7 Souls
by Pep Pizza
Summary: Let's just say that Mt. Ebbot exists, and right at this moment. What a catastrophe that would be! Everyone would race to get there first. But what if only seven could enter Undertale, and if they all entered in practically the same day? What if they all have different colored souls? How would this affect the outcome and how does each soul react in battle? (HOPEFULLY FriskXSans?)
1. And So It Appears

**Note: This starts out weird and kinda boring, but I promise it'll get better as you go on!**

* * *

I sat down on that bench, leaning against the wall, and sighed in longing as I stared into the distance. It was clear, sunny, and with only the largest mountains to be seen from very far away. This might appear to be a nice day, a perfect day with birds singing, and flowers blooming and such, but it is not so.

To see clear skies means there are no objects in the way. To see far mountains means that even if it exists, it'll be too far for the likes of me to reach. To know that there is no such thing as Mt. Ebott, it makes all the possible hopes go away.

Although the game states that once monsters and humans ruled together, it doesn't seem so. And although it says that magicians sealed them away, there are no magicians. And even though the monsters are sealed in this mountain called Mt. Ebbot… there is no Mt. Ebott. It just doesn't exist. It ceases to exist.

Here, I'm nobody special. I'm not good at any one thing. I'm not the best at drawing, writing, instruments, sports, intelligence, kindness, none of that. Just a little bit of everything. One might think it's a good thing to be balanced, but not me. For me, not having one specific good trait is a downfall. You're not the best at anything. There's always someone better than you. You're constantly jealous of what others are able to accomplish, even if they're only able to accomplish that one thing.

But if I went to Mt. Ebbot and fell, then I would be a hero. It wouldn't matter what kind of speciality I was. Anyone that fell down there could be a hero. And if you ever made a mistake, you could just Reset, no biggie. I wished I could find that mountain, so I could finally start my reign of success. To actually be known for something good, and honorous.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when my friends call to me to join them. I smile, shake my head, and get up and over to see what they're doing.

* * *

It's nighttime, almost midnight. I'm propped on my windowsill, staring out into the dark, empty night. The world is slightly illuminated by little lights everywhere, in front of the nearby garages, on the streets, in the windows of city buildings from far far away. Even still, the night is dark and serene, and the little lights are like fireflies, fluttering around here and there. My eyes unfocus and I actually start to see the night like that, with those fireflies flitting around merrily like little twinkling stars.

But back there, deep in the back of the nighttime scene, is a figure. It is darker than anything else. I snap out of my daydream as I focus my eyes on it. I was pretty sure it hadn't been there this morning. What could it be? The intimidating figure of it looms ahead, and just when I think I know what it is, it's gone. But not gone as in a "disappear" kind of gone, but just that it turns as dark as the rest of the world around it. I wonder, did it become lighter, or did the world become darker?

I got my answer surprisingly quick. The fireflies were gone. The world was completely black, with no little lights anywhere in sight. Where had the lights gone? I got off my bed and tried to open the lights to my room. It didn't work. No one else in the house would know, since it was still the middle of the night. Maybe it was a blackout? Then why were the lights from far, far away affected as well? Not like I knew. I didn't want to wake up anyone to ask, though.

But at the same time, I also wanted to figure out what the dark figure in the distance must've been. It was probably some geographic location, since it was _huge_. I flipped open my computer and pulled off the plug. (Since there was no electricity anyway...) I opened up Chrome and went on ahead to Google Maps to locate the figure. I found my house quickly, and then traced my way across the map, following the line of view I would have while looking outside my window.

Along the way, there were some insignificant things. Small houses, a center for who knows what, maybe a store, and so on. But those weren't big, and they were always there. When looking out my window, I would never actually _see_ them, which made them pretty insignificant to my searches.

When I started to think that I might have traced too far, I found a mountain on the map. It was small and insignificant, and it might've been exactly what I was looking for. But I couldn't shake the feeling that the thing I had saw was maybe just a bit farther away, just a little bit more beyond my grasp. I sighed and continued, and was almost immediately rewarded with my finds.

A small mountain, no bigger than my first find, was sitting right across from the bay of where my house sat. I zoomed forward on the screen to check it out. This seemed like the thing I had seen in the distance, though I was surprised I had never noticed it before on my other sky gazing days.

My eyes widened as I realized what the words displayed. I blinked once, twice, then thought it over in my head. This reading could just be a mistake, true. But the chances were also highly unlikely. I now shut my eyes and concentrated. This was the choice of my lifetime. I hoped I wouldn't regret it.

I quickly flipped my computer closed and shoved it in a backpack. Then I tip-toed downstairs and snatched a couple of water bottles and snacks, stuffing them in there too. I considered bringing money, then thought against it. I would have no need for it, probably. I slipped into my sneakers and went outside, while closing the door behind me very quietly.

I can't tell anyone, or else they'll stop me. They'll think I'm crazy, and tell me to go back to bed or something. I can't afford that, not if there's even the slightest bit of chance that where I'm going is going to actually be the _real_ thing. After all, this was my chance. To finally follow my dreams.

The silence outside was eerie, and the lack of any kind of light was spooky. I tried not to be affected, as I had a mission. I took a deep breath as I started to make my way to the dark figure in the distance, Mt. Ebbot.

* * *

 **Note: Chapters may vary in size**

 **I think I'll be posting about 1 chapter every two days, so stay tuned! ;P ~Pizza**


	2. Adventure, Start!

It was like a magnet, drawing to me, beckoning. I knew I had to go, whether it was real or not. Because if it were, and I didn't go, I knew I would never be able to forgive myself.

I had only walked a little while before realizing my predicament. To cross the bay, I would have to cross the bridge meant only for cars. And even if people could walk on it, it would take a long time to cross it. The bay is large, you know? It wouldn't be easy to cross the whole thing just by walking. No, I would have to find some other way.

But how? I wasn't a big fan of hitchhiking or giving a thumbs up to random strangers in cars. And I definitely didn't know how to drive, much less have a car or keys to be able to. Getting one of my friends to bring me would be troublesome, suspicious, and a little weird. I would have to find some way, but I wasn't sure how.

As I walked along, I heard some men talking to the side of a red truck. I listened in on their conversation.

"Heading up to the bridge?" Was this just super convenient or what?

"Yeah, need to visit a friend. You coming?" Somehow, that seemed like an invitation to me. I moved to the passenger side of the truck where they couldn't see me, and I debated on how to get in the back without being noticed. Usually, I would never do something like this. But let's just say that things have been changing for me, ever since that great discovery of the existence of Mt. Ebbot. Or at least, the possibility of it.

"Sure, I have some business to do up there too." The door on the opposite side opened, and I realized the second man was going to be coming around to my side soon. I quickly leaped into the back of the truck and stayed there. I landed with a much-too-loud _thump_. Did they hear me? Did they notice any movements? I heard the door open and close, and the truck started up.

So, they hadn't heard me. They hadn't seen me. I breathed a sigh of relief as the engine came to life, and the truck backed out of the driveway. Hopefully, this would bring me to where I needed to go. I continued to stay in hiding as the men started a conversation. I could sort of hear them, but was unable to distinguish what they were saying. I examined my surroundings and found a couple of buckets and paper around, but that was all. I pulled my backpack off and made myself comfortable. Or as comfortable someone could be as a stowaway in the back of a truck.

Soon, the air around me started to turn colder. I felt a harsher wind, and saw less distracting things in the night sky. Obviously, we were crossing the bridge now. I wanted to take a peek at the surrounding world, so I lifted my eyes just slightly over the rim of the back of the truck. Cars were everywhere, even in the dead of the night, and the bridge stretched long and intimidating over the whole length of the bay. The waters were dark and murky, but there was single area of light where the moon reflected. I looked around some more, and found myself reflected in the mirror of the passenger side of the car. I quickly ducked away before someone else could see me.

It was starting to turn chilly. I was wishing I had remembered to pack an extra jacket or somewhat. At least I was wearing my favorite sweater… I smiled as I gazed at the blue fabric and purple stripes. There was a reason it was my favorite sweater, you know.

So I laid there in the back of the truck and waited. I had debated on taking my computer out to do some more research, but I was afraid of the light it projected, and didn't want to risk it sending out some warning spotlight to other curious people. However, I did think about the risks and how to approach the matter at hand.

By doing this, I would be missing out on school the next day, make all my parents and friends worried, and probably cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people. Then when I thought about it even more, I started to realize a whole bunch of things I should've brought along. Like said before, an extra jacket. But then with more thought, a phone to contact people, a charger for my computer, and maybe even a pillow. This truck sure was hard, and my backpack wasn't a much better substitute.

Then how to approach the situation. After this truck crossed the bridge, I had to get off. But it wasn't like I knew how to jump off of a moving truck, unless it was driving slowly. Then I had to hope there weren't many other geographical features getting in the way of my expedition to Mt. Ebbot. And was it really a mountain, or was it just a really big grassy hill? These things were really confusing, and the game's facts didn't help much.

The noises around me began to die down, and even though I was still _chilled to the bone_ (thanks Sans), I knew the truck was off the bridge. It was a bit faster than I would've thought it to be, but I guess what was done was done. I carried the backpack again, and held the straps tightly as I started to get up on my knees. I crawled to the side of the truck and looked over.

The truck was still travelling at a rather quick speed. I couldn't jump off now, especially since there weren't any soft landing spots around. No grass or dirt, just concrete concrete and more concrete. Now that I thought about it, there sure was a whole ton of concrete. I started to stand up to get a better view, but then fell down and yelped when the truck rode over a bump.

"Did you hear that?" Oops, looks like I was caught. But maybe if I got their attention, they would stop the truck? It was worth a try. I got up again, steadied myself, then started making noises and faces at them. Both of their heads turned around, even the guy who was driving.

"Eyes on the road!" I ordered. He obediently turned around to focus on the road, but the other guy looked completely flabbergasted. It was almost funny, but I kept my focus in mind.

"What in the… _What are you doing back there_? How did you-"

"I'm stopping the car!" The other guy announced. Which was exactly what I needed. Perfect. The truck pulled over the the side and started to slow down, but before it had even completely stopped, I jumped out and ran. My legs felt like jello.

I heard the car door opening from far behind me as I ran. "Kid, where are you going? What were you…" I was too far to hear them now. I kept running and dived into some trees, just in case they were chasing me. I couldn't take any chances, especially after coming so far. I panted and forced my legs to move, feeling the _thump thump_ of the backpack on my back. It was really annoying, but I kept my pace.

After a while, I stopped and listened. Although I couldn't hear very well with all my panting, I was sure I had gotten away. Maybe they hadn't even been chasing me in the first place. Then all that running was for nothing? I sighed and plopped down next to a tree and examined my surroundings. Was I in a forest? That was strange, but I wasn't going to question it.

I considered climbing a tree before starting anything, but then dispelled it. I couldn't climb trees, much less get onto the first branch. I wasn't physically strong enough for that. I decided that leaning against a tree trunk would just have to be good enough. I pulled off my backpack and got out my computer to handle some research. I had a couple of questions that I needed answered. Like, where was I? And what was this place?

Luckily, there was an internet source nearby that didn't require a password. What a relief! I connected to that and decided to take some screenshots during my research, as I might not get another chance to connect to internet again.

Then holding my breath, I moved on to Google Maps and found Mt. Ebbot. It hadn't disappeared, it was still there. For some reason, I felt relieved. Maybe it was because I still didn't believe myself, and was worried that what I had seen before really was just a trick to the eye.

I examined the map carefully. It looked like I was heading in the right direction. So now I just had to find my location. After a bit of searching, I did find it. But to my confusion, it was stated as "Unmapped territory."

Was this the name of the place, or was it really unmapped? I thought Google Maps had everything though. This was honestly extremely suspicious. But it wouldn't be of any help to me. I sighed before closing my computer and stuffing it back in the backpack. No need to waste batteries.

I headed through the dense forest and hoped I was going the right way when I heard some rustling in a nearby bush. I turned around to look, but found no one. No animals, people, anything. I frowned before continuing. Along the way, I heard more rustling and the snapping of twigs, and I had a feeling I was being followed.

Soon, I was running. I fled through the forest, ducking under branches and hopping over small streams and logs. I really hoped I wasn't being followed, but I honestly couldn't take any chances. Especially if it was those two guys coming back to chase me. I dashed forward for a bit longer, but then came to an abrupt stop when I saw two people in front of me. They didn't seem too old, almost around my age. They were talking in hushed whispers about something. What were they doing here, in the middle of the night? Temporarily forgetting the chase, I tried to figure out who they were.

Almost immediately, a force behind me slammed into my back, and the both of us fell down onto the dirt.

"What in the world are you-"

"Shhh!" The person behind me whispered. Her voice sounded familiar. I turned my head around to find that it was no other than my friend, Elaine!

"What are you doing here?" I was incredulous.

"Shhh…" She shushed me again, and pointed past the bushes we had fallen behind. I took a better look, and found the two people in front, staring back at the bushes we were hiding behind. They both looked familiar. One was a girl in a pony tail, and the other was a boy with semi-long hair. They gave each other confused looks, shrugged, and continued onward without casting back a glance.

"Do I know them?" I mused.

"Yeah, we do." Elaine confirmed, "That's Joyce and James. Remember them?" A moment later, I quickly nodded. If I hadn't known before, I certainly did now.

Joyce and James, the Double J's, were almost best friends, and complete Undertale addicts. They always pretended to know everything about Undertale, with all its secrets and plots and paths and everything. Most of the time, they were right. But then again, they were very often wrong with their analysis. But then again, what were the Double J's doing around here, in the middle of the forest, past the bay, in the middle of the night?

"What are you doing here?" I finally asked Elaine.

"That's what I was going to ask you!" She hissed, "What are you doing out here, past the bridge, in the middle of the night? How did you even get here?"

"If you're here to stop me, I'm not going to." I huffed.

"Stop you? From what?" For a second, she looked confused, and then her face turned into one of understanding. "Don't tell me you're here for…"

"For what?" I was honestly curious to know if she knew my destination. But she didn't answer. All she did was take out her phone as she started tapping around on it. I started to get angry at her for ignoring me, but then she handed me the phone. Confused, I gingerly took it. It was a kind of news report on some weird website. There was no telling where Elaine was getting her internet source. Shrugging, I skimmed through it quickly.

 _ **Has Mt. Ebbot Appeared?**_

 _On the night of 201X, a mountain had appeared in the middle of nowhere, straight in the town of Union City. In its wake, it had destroyed all the buildings around it, and had somehow created a massive forest to grow around it. The cause of this is still yet to be found, but there was another shocking discovery. The mountain has the striking resemblance of another mountain in this game known as Undertale, famously known for its great characters and plots. Though this is very skeptical, many are already listing the reasons why._

 _With further investigation, it has already been scientifically proven that this mountain is practically the same as Mt. Ebbot. The size and shape of it are extremely similar. The surrounding forest only continues to prove the scenery that surrounds this mountain during the game. Even the greenness of this mountain fails to escape our notice. There is no doubt that this is what we believe it is._

 _We have already interviewed Toby Fox to ask about his opinion for this newly arisen landmark. He chose not to provide much information, though in the middle of the interview, he had muttered, "...knew this would happen eventually..." How he knew, he did not explain. However, he did give us this shocking information. "If this really is Mt. Ebott," He said, "Then the first seven that reach the mountain… maybe even eight… will get a chance to be in the game." We believe that by this, he is implying that the first seven children who reach this mountain will be able to experience the wonders of the game itself, but in real life._

 _We wanted to test this theory, and found that adults could not enter the edges of the forest territory. For some reason, a kind of barricade has been keeping them out, and parents are worried sick about their children leaving their beds in the middle of the night. Scientists have no idea what could be causing an anomaly such as this, as there are no current technology advances that can produce such a miraculous thing. With this predicament, we'll have to-_

I read no more, and looked up at Elaine with pure shock. This information was… startling. Shocking. The best news that I had ever received in my whole life. However, Elaine only returned the sincere look.

"Do you see what this means?" She prodded, taking the phone back from me. "If we are one of the first seven to reach the mountain, then…"

I gulped and nodded enthusiastically. "We have to do this. We already have a head-start though, don't we? We just need to make it there, and as quickly as possible." I could already imagine these things happening. Falling in a bed of golden flowers, eating butterscotch-cinnamon pie, and meeting Sans… it was all too real to be true.

"Easier said than done." Elaine huffed, helping me up from the ground. But then she smiled encouragingly. "But we've got this."

* * *

 ** _Oh ho ho!_ ~ And it looks like Mt. Ebbot is real! WOWIE! ;P**

 **If you've read this far, I hope you liked it! Although it starts out rather boring, I promise it will get better! Thanks for reading! (And please tell me how it is!) ~Pizza :)**

 **Edit: And with the constructive criticism I received from Shadozcreep, I have now edited this (and a few other) chapters to be better suited to the situation at hand. :)**


	3. Competition

The two of us were heading forward at a steady pace. We didn't want to tire ourselves out from running, but walking was way too slow, especially with all the competition that we had from other kids all over the world. Who knew how many people were heading for Mt. Ebbot right now? Probably tons of people… no, millions of kids. We had a head-start, but who knew how much longer that advantage was going to help?

The forest was a very rugged landscape, and we more than once had to cross rivers on floating logs or fail an attempt to swing on a vine. Just saying, the vine broke. There were swampy marshes, little bugs flying around, and prickly leaves and stems. We were spending more of our time navigating than progressing at this point. I had never felt so thankful toward the paved forest trails that I would usually walk on when hiking.

Trees were everywhere, slippery moss grew on rocks, and I couldn't help wondering how the growth of Mt. Ebbot could've caused all of this. It was spectacular, and extraordinary. I could tell that Elaine felt the same way too. She was almost shaking with anticipation.

The whole way, we never passed by the Double J's. I now knew the reason for their being here, but I had no idea where they were, or how close they were to the mountain already. For all I knew, they could already be there, bathing in their glory. I snorted just imagining it.

I could feel us nearing the mountain now. The trees started to thin out, and the branches spreading apart, and I started to jog. Then I began to run, faster and faster. Elaine was right behind me. The edge of the forest was almost there, and suddenly the morning light was bathing onto me. I screeched to a stop on the grass, and Elaine was right beside me as we stared at the tall mountain looming before us.

Mt. Ebbot had never looked so glorious in all its existence. The sun coming up from behind it cast a bright glow around it, as if it were shining. The mountain stood tall and proud, not to mention extremely green. I wondered if it was from moss or grass. Still, the size was intimidating, and it looked a lot steeper than I thought it would be. Maybe this climb wouldn't be so easy.

We had no time to lose. Elaine and I started to run forward, until suddenly, some random guy stepped in our way. He was wearing an orange T-shirt, was extremely tall, and had a smug smile. That smile was like no one else's but Ricky's.

"I'll be the one to reach the mountain first." He crowed, "Meanwhile, stay out of my way."

"We'll see." I shot back, trying to move around him. But he stopped me.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" He snickered. "You can't get past me if I'm going to be first." He entered a fighting stance, and I went to pick up a stick from the ground. Even then, I doubted it would work well as a fighting weapon.

Then suddenly, Elaine pointed. Ricky and I looked toward the direction of her finger and found two others already climbing the mountain. The Double J's. Before Ricky could even react or rant at the two, Elaine grabbed my hand, and we started to dash past him.

"Hey, get back here!" We obviously weren't going to. Seeming to realize this, Ricky started to run at us. The thumping of my backpack was, once again, very annoying.

"He's going to - _huff_ \- catch up to us!" I exclaimed between breaths. Ricky was the most athletic guy at our school, and there was no doubt he would reach us sooner or later.

"Let's split up." Elaine suggested, and I widened my eyes at her. "It's the only choice, and you know it. On three. One…"

"This is a bad idea-" I started.

"Two… three!" Elaine ran to the left, and so I ended up running to the right. To my pure luck, Ricky ran after Elaine and not me. So I got away safely, and could only wonder what was going on with them as I continued to make my way to Mt. Ebbot alone.

I was at the base of the mountain now. The ledges above me were intimidatingly green. I couldn't climb this, not in my physical state. I looked around some more, and found a cave. Didn't Frisk run into a cave before reaching the top of Mt. Ebbot? It seemed like a good choice, so I entered without a second's hesitation.

The cave was rocky and dark. The pitter patter of my footsteps echoed around the cave walls. I traced my gaze around the stone hallway, wondering how far it would go. Then, the cave suddenly turned to a steep incline. I could walk it, but it wasn't anyone's average walk. It was rather tiring, and since the trail was pulled into circles (almost like a rock staircase), I felt myself getting dizzier and dizzier as I went up. My backpack really wasn't helping the situation. The further I went, the heavier it seemed to get. Once, I even stopped to rest, just to catch my breath and to dull the aching in my head.

Eventually, I started leaning on the walls for support. I was really starting to break down. I thought about going back down to find another way up, but then got rid of the idea, knowing how far I had come. That decision would have changed my life, and kept me from ever reaching the top of Mt. Ebbot, but thank goodness I kept going.

Then I was finally at the end of the cave. In pure delight, I ran to the mouth of the cave and out into the sunlight. It was still early morning. The light shone down on me in pretty beams, and I felt myself lifting my head in an almost drunken way. That hike in the cave had really tired me.

I practically skipped forward to the giant hole in front of me. There was actually a giant hole. I was actually on Mt. Ebbot. I was finally going to achieve my dreams. But was I the first one here? There were a couple of other figures around... but my vision was hazy to make them out. Oh well, they probably weren't other people. If they were, they would've jumped in already, wouldn't they? Maybe they were big rocks... I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

Ha-ha... This was great, to finally be on Mt. Ebbot, to finally reach this place that I've always dreamed of…

Before I could remind myself to fall down the hole voluntarily and not accidentally, I tripped on a single vine. Then I found myself toppling into the hole, with no control over my fall, and clutching onto myself like there was no tomorrow.

What a great way to start an adventure.

* * *

 **I'm glad to see that this story is getting a couple of followers. :) It make me so happpeeeee!~ :D :D :D**

 **And Frisk finally falls into the effing hole! _Finally_! So now the real story starts. :3**

 **I hope you liked this chapter (although it was rather short), but I promise the next one will be longer! Thx for readin'! ~Pizza**


	4. Enter, Undertale!

_Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow…_

I groaned as I felt my bones creak and my bruised skin stretch. How the heck was Frisk ever able to fall down here without feeling like shit? I realized that I was laying on a bunch of golden flowers, but I doubted that would've helped to break my fall. Then I realized what I was laying on. My backpack. That was what had cushioned me. I hoped nothing was broken. I tried to get the backpack off of me, but it was a pain just to move, and I felt myself growling under my breath. It looked like I would have to remain stationary, for now.

I turned my head up and found the gaping hole in front of me, with it's intimidating sides stretching up to meet the bright sky. Those walls would make it impossible to climb back out. And was it afternoon already? That didn't matter. All that mattered was that I had made it.

I had made it into Mt. Ebbot! Realizing this accomplishment made me feel so glad that I didn't even feel that bad anymore. I shouldered the backpack off and started to get up…

Bad idea. I immediately felt myself growing dizzy, and I plopped back into the bed of flowers. It looked like I really was going to just stay here for a while. I sighed and opened up my backpack to grab some chips. Then I realized I was thirsty, so I got out a water bottle too.

Then suddenly, a large, yellow flower grew out in front of me. In two seconds flat. That could be no other than…

"Howdy! I'm Flowey." Now that I was actually seeing a talking flower with its face and all, I couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed. "Flowey the-"

"Flower!" I finished for him. "But you're not supposed to meet me until I pass the door…"

"Who cares about the door?" The flower said dismissively, then paused. His face suddenly grew a little menacing as he noticed the state I was in. "You know what's going on here, don't you?"

"W-what?" I gasped, "You're not supposed to say that until you introduce me to LV and friendliness pellets!"

"You _idiot_." Flowey cackled, the little fangs on his smile showing very obviously, "In this world, it's kill or be killed! Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?" Suddenly, little white pellets erupted from the ground behind Flowey and surrounded me. I was in absolute no shape to get up or crawl away. "DIE." Flowey started to laugh. The pellets started to move in on me.

I hoped Toriel would show up to save me, but there was no sign of her. Maybe she only showed up when the both of us were present in the other room? It looked like I couldn't depend on her now. I was going to have to fend for myself. Still sitting, I feebly swung my backpack around and deflected the upcoming bullets. I was pretty sure there were a couple of holes in my backpack now.

Flowey looked surprised, like he hadn't expected me to retaliate. This was probably my only chance. I threw my backpack at Flowey, hoping my aim would be true.

It missed, and bounced harmlessly two inches away from Flowey. The flower gave me an amused look, but I wasn't done with him yet. I picked up a water bottle and threw that at him too.

I didn't miss. The water bottle clonked onto Flowey's head in the middle of his smug smile. He gave me a weak disbelieving look, and I couldn't help feeling a little proud of myself.

"I'll be back!" He ranted, before popping back into the ground. He left no traces of him behind. I huffed in satisfaction before settling back into the flower patch. It was comfortable there.

I didn't remember when I had fallen asleep, but when I woke up, I was staring at the dark hole above me. Little stars twinkled in the night sky, and I knew it was nighttime. Apparently, I had been sleeping for a long time. I sat up and shook the flower petals from my hair. My body was a little sore, but that was all. The sleep really had helped me after all. I got up and finally left the flower patch.

I went to retrieve the backpack and water bottle that I had threw before looking back. I had left a big mess in the bed of flowers. So many of them were crushed and squashed, it made me feel bad. But then I realized that I had only caused one-eighth of the destruction, since the others would've caused damage too. So that slightly reassured me.

That being said, I wondered how many had already made it here. Was I really the last one, or was there more to come? I guess I could only find out by continuing. I went on ahead through the cave halls and past the first door, and found the patch of grass that Flowey usually appeared on. Except for the fact that he wasn't here this time. I guess that meeting him already means you don't get to meet him again? I frowned before going forward.

The purple ruins were magnificent. It looked much more impressive in real life. With vines stretching around the walls and up on the ceiling, and little colorful leaf piles here and there. In fact, the shadow of the ruins that loomed above filled me with determination. I suddenly felt stronger and healthier as I thought this, and I knew I was creating a save.

Or was I? Could all the others create saves too? That would make sense, but then how would the whole system work if eight people could create saves or reset? This was all very confusing, and I couldn't help wondering how much the rest of the game would change just because of all our appearances happening at once. What was going to happen?

After climbing some marble staircases, I was in another room with grey buttons. Just as I was about to head towards them, I realized that the door was already open. Someone had already solved this puzzle, so there was no need for me to redo it.

In the next room of rivers and bridges, I realized that the correct levers were already pulled, and the spikes were already sheathed. This was annoying. With all these puzzles already solved, I would have no challenges. Before continuing though, I refilled some water bottles with the water from the rivers. It was surprisingly clean.

In the next room, there was a dummy. I realized that this was usually when Toriel would give me the lesson on battle, and I decided that this would be good practice for me too, even without her here. I headed up to the dummy, and expected a red soul to fly out of my body.

A red soul had flown out of my body. But what I did not expect was for me to glow a bright red before flying up into the air! I yelped as I felt myself rising, and stopped right before reaching the ceiling. Why was I flying? I started to panic for a moment before attempting to calm myself down. Flying was cool, it was. I just had to figure out why and how I was.

I looked forward and found that my soul was flying in front of me. I stared back down at the dummy in question, and he stared back without comment. I urged myself to go forward, but nothing happened. Then I urged my soul to move forward, and it did, but I flew forward as well! This was an amazing discovery, and completely new to me. I attempted to move the soul in all sorts of directions, and found myself flying along with it. With discovery, I knew that I would be able to fly anywhere I wanted, as long as I controlled the soul correctly. This was like real flying! And it made sense too, since having the red heart meant you could go anywhere you wanted, without the forces of gravity pulling you down.

And that's what the red glow was about, which meant I was one with determination. I wondered if everyone else was like that too, or if they all actually had different colored souls with different knacks and abilities. That would be so cool! I smiled giddily to myself as I continued to float around. I practiced and twirled in the air, dodging pretend bullets and projectiles. I would need all the practice I could get to become the best I could be.

After a while, I realized that the dummy was growing impatient. He shuffled away to the corner, and I felt myself descending back to the ground. Gravity was back. Apparently, the dummy had tired of my "aimless shenanigans". I smiled mischievously before continuing.

No frog showed up in the next room. However, I was able to successfully cross the spike bridge even though I was scared of every step I took. Let's just say that in real life, those spikes looked a lot scarier. Honestly, do you know anyone who would willingly step on some spikes without being scared? Not me, but I was still able to do it somehow. Every time I put my foot down and felt the spikes sheathe, relief would pass through me, and I would gain enough courage for the next step.

I was finally in the long hallway that Toriel would usually use to test my independence. I started down the hall, and suddenly noticed something white. At first, I thought it was the white pillar that Toriel used to hide behind. But then as I continued to walk, I realized that it was none other than Toriel herself!

Honestly, seeing a large goat in a purple dress in real life gives you some pretty disturbing ideas. But her warm smile was enough to erase all the doubts I had. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel-"

"Caretaker of the Ruins!" I finished for her excitedly. "It's so great to finally meet you!

Toriel managed a small laugh before continuing to speak. "I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the last human to come down here for a long time." So I was the last person to fall down here? That made me feel a little left out. "Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." She beckoned to me, "This way." Then she exited through the next door.

Well, this was different. Maybe Toriel was feeling overprotective lately? She usually left me by now, but instead, she was leading me. That was strange.

In the next room, I had a word with the frog before heading into the room that I presumed held the monster candies. I went up to the bowl to take a candy, but found that there was only one more left. Who had taken all the other candies? Probably the people that had come before me. I pouted before taking the last one, and then I went back out to play in one of the colorful leaf piles. Playfully crinkling through the leaves filled me with determination. Somehow, Toriel had enough patience to just stand there and watch as I did my business.

Toriel lead me through all the puzzles, even though I already knew how to do all of them. But there were so many holes in the cracks, and all the rocks were moved already, so there wasn't even that many puzzles for Toriel to lead me through. Just mainly how to fight. I could tell she was surprised when I started to fly while engaging in a fight, and that made me laugh a little. She explained to me the concepts, and I learned quickly, while dodging projectiles. No monster ever approached Toriel, but that was no surprise. Whenever I was even slightly hurt, Toriel healed me. After every battle, the monster would leave a small pile of gold as thanks for being spared. They were surprisingly light and small, and I found that I was able to fit many into my pocket at once.

The strange cheese sitting on the table had definitely drawn my attention. I went to the mousehole and heard a couple of squeaks. Knowing that the mouse might one day leave the hole and get the cheese filled me with determination. I smiled at the warm feeling that filled me, and I headed onto the next rooms with Toriel.

Later, I even met Nabstablook. Seeing almost transparent figures floating around was a little frightening, but I guess he was less intimidating than Toriel. I expected him to be in a foul mood, but he was in fact in a cheery mood. He said that most of the people that had passed by were relatively nice to him, and he wasn't feeling so bad anymore. I noticed how he said _most_ , and I wondered who could've been mean to such a nice ghost like Nabstablook. I said my farewells to him, and continued on with Toriel.

Later, I even paid a visit to the Spider Bake sale. Seeing real cobwebs and spiders skittering around made my skin crawl, but I managed to place the appropriate number of coins in each large web. I was mildly surprised the webs were strong enough to hold up 18G. I then received my Spider Donut and Spider Cider. Little pieces of webs stuck to them, and I decided not to eat or drink them. It was probably for the best.

Along the way, I found that the faded ribbon was already gone. Someone had gotten ahold of it, and now I would be at a greater disadvantage. I huffed, and later found that even the toy knife was gone. But who would've taken it? They weren't planning on killing anyone, were they?

And then, we had finally reached Toriel's home. Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the Ruins filled me with determination.

"Now, my child, you will meet the others." She promised. Then I quickly followed her into her purple bricked cottage.

* * *

 **Well that was fast paced. (I had already went step-by-step of the Ruins through another story, and I'm not keen on doing it again)**

 **Already, Frisk is noticing some strange differences! What's causing them, I wonder? :)**

 **Also, although I'm not sure how it will go, I'm willing to accept some alternate endings for chapters! I got this idea from Noraneko-dono, and I think it's pretty neat! So if you have any ideas of an alternate ending for this chapter, or for any upcoming chapters, tell me and I'll possibly write it and post it along with the next chapter, and etc. Sound good? :)**

 **So there goes another longish chapter, and I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for all your follows and support! :3 ~Pizza**


	5. Reunion

Upon entrance, I found myself standing on smooth, white wooden floorboards, with a brown staircase leading down to a lower floor. There were even some potted plants and shelves of books around. There were also two hallways, one to the left and one to the right. I knew where each one lead to. I sniffed the air, and smelled a delicious, sweet scent that could only be…

"Surprise!" Toriel smiled kindly, "It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your and the others' arrivals. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight." Thank goodness for that. "And here, I have another surprise for you." She headed over to the hallway on the right, and I followed her, knowing what was coming next.

When we were close to our destination, Toriel grabbed my hand with her furry paw. It was warm and fluffy, like a dog's fur. I smiled at that thought. "This is it. A room for you and the others! I hope you like it!"

"The others?" I thought, pondering this. I really doubted they would have all stayed. Some people that really _knew_ Undertale, like the Double J's, might have already went on ahead. "How many are left here?"

"Is something burning…?" Toriel suddenly asked. I could tell she was trying to make an excuse to leave so that she could avoid my questions. "Um, make yourself at home!" Then she quickly left down the other hallway. I shrugged, smiled, and headed in the room that I would be temporarily staying in. Inside, I found Elaine and James chatting on the bed. When they saw me, I saw the look of surprise on their faces.

"Wow! You finally made it E-"

"Frisk." I quickly corrected her. I wasn't really sure why I did that. But for some reason, I didn't really want to be called by my real name. Not down here. It was too… special for that. We needed some real names, some unique ones that would actually stand out here. That would actually fit in here.

"Uh, sure… Frisk." Elaine continued, seeming unsure, "We thought you didn't make it! Or that you had, but had, uh…"

"Died in the process?" I finished for her.

"Yeah." James confirmed, readjusting his glasses.

"Say, what are you doing here? I thought you might have already went on ahead." I looked around the room, searching. "And where's Joyce?"

"She went on ahead." Elaine filled me in. "So did everyone else. But for some reason, James decided to stay. He said that Toriel would… _eventually_ let him go. Of her own free will. But I really doubt it."

I doubted it too, but I had other questions. "Did you stay here too, to wait for me?"

Elaine made a face. I wasn't really sure what it was supposed to mean. "Uh… yeah. That's it. I was waiting for you." I didn't completely trust that answer, but I went along with it.

"I'll be staying here for the night." I stated matter-of-factly, "But just so that I can receive the slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Then I'll be leaving." I turned to Elaine. "You want to come along too?" She stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. I then turned to James. "And I suppose you'll stay here, huh?" He nodded confidently. "I suppose we don't have much of a choice. Say, who's claimed the bed?"

Elaine twiddled her fingers. "James did."

I turned to James. "You let a girl sleep on the ground while you took the bed?"

"She offered it to me." He shrugged, "What wasn't there to take?" I huffed, crossed my arms, and sat down on the floor next to their feet.

"Still." I was about to start another lecture, but then I yawned. "Or maybe… I'll just take a nap and wait for morning to come."

"It's nighttime?" Elaine prodded.

"Er, I think it is. It was when I left the hole. Although I'm not too sure how long the trip around the Ruins took." The two blinked at me, then turned to each other with skeptical looks. Then Elaine sighed before joining me on the carpet.

"Let's just go to sleep." She suggested. "It's been a long day." James quickly nodded and flipped the covers over himself. I took off my backpack and rested my head on it as Elaine slept on her own pillow. I guess James wasn't entirely self-centered.

After a while, I had thought the both of them had fallen asleep, but it wasn't so. Elaine started to shake me just as my eyelids began to droop.

"Wha… what?"

"F-Frisk?" She still seemed uncomfortable calling me that, but that was okay. She'd get used to it eventually. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?" I started to get up into a sitting position.

"I-I didn't actually stay here to wait for you. Though it was part of the reason!" She defended herself quickly. "But… Toriel seems so lonely here, all by herself. I wanted to stay and accompany her. I'll leave eventually, that's true, but not yet. At least, not while James is still here. I think once I leave, Toriel will just be even more determined to keep James from leaving. So I need to stay here until I can convince him to leave first, or to at least leave with me, do you know what I'm saying?" There was a pleading look on her face, like she didn't like making difficult decisions.

"I guess?" Her logic made sense. "I mean, sure, why not? I see your reasoning. So… I'm guessing you won't be coming with me tomorrow when I leave?"

Elaine nodded her head. "But can you leave early? That way I can tell James that you left without me, so that I don't have to make up any excuses for not leaving with you. Because, you know… he gets pretty self-defensive sometimes."

"I know." I smiled. "But hey, it's fine. I'll leave alone and early tomorrow."

"Thanks." Elaine gave me a thankful glance, and then her expression changed. "Oh! I almost forgot." She reached into her pocket and pulled out an unused band-aid. "I'm giving this to you."

"What? No, I don't need it." I said, trying to wave it away, but she persisted.

" _I_ don't need it." Elaine corrected, "You'll be the one fighting monsters and all that, and I'll just be here, staying safe with Toriel. And anyway…" She sighed, "It's also a temporary good-bye gift?"

I smiled back at her. I had no idea how a band-aid sufficed as a good-bye gift, but let's just say that I felt a little touched. "Of course." I accepted the band-aid and stuffed it into my own pockets. Elaine gave a huge sigh of relief, like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, before settling back down onto her pillow. Then I myself laid back down on the carpet. I smiled at the thought of being in this world of Undertale, down in Mt. Ebbot, and thought of all the monsters and friends I had met just on the first day. All these things happening, I knew just how unreal it was. But it was real, and I was here right now, and there was nothing that could change that fact.

I sighed in satisfaction as I drifted off into sleep.

* * *

 **What a short chapter... -_-** **I guess the reason for that is because I'm reading more fanfics than I'm writing them. :) Eh... oh well.**

 **I see that no one had given me any requests for alternate endings, but just know that that's always available for you!**

 **Thx for your continued support and for readin'! Hope ya enjoyed lots. ;P ~Pizza**


	6. Goodbye, Ruins

I woke up early the next day, to find Elaine and James still snoring away. Beside me lay a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie on a plate. I snatched it up and stuck it in an empty chip bag before stuffing that into my backpack. Then I zipped it up quietly and snuck out, trying not to be too loud.

I wondered if sneaking away without Toriel's consent would give me the same reaction as the game's. I guess there was only one way to find out.

But this time, once I even placed one foot on the steps of the stairs, Toriel had come out of the hallway to stop me. "Up already, I see?" She chuckled, taking my hand and leading me to the left hallway. She was literally dragging me, but I didn't think she noticed. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education." Now I felt rather bad, knowing I was about to leave soon. No wonder Elaine didn't want to go yet. "This may come as a surprise to you… But I have always wanted to be a teacher… actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. Still." Now Toriel looked indignant. It was a funny look. "I am glad to have you living here."

"Ahem." I started, just as Toriel dragged me all the way to the sofa in the living room.

"Oh, did you want something? What is it?" So she finally took in my presence, huh?

"I need to leave the Ruins." I stated quickly. The faster I got over this, the better.

"What?" Toriel seemed a little shocked. "Child, this… this is your new home now. Um… would you like to hear about this book I'm reading?" Toriel picked up a thick book from her sofa. "It is called '72 Uses for Snails'. How about it?"

"I need to leave the Ruins." I repeated, sighing. "And now you're just going to ignore me and tell me a snail fact, aren't you?"

Toriel gave me a look before saying, "Um… How about an exciting snail fact? Did you know that snails…" She paused to create anticipation. "Sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature? Interesting." It actually was interesting, but I didn't have time for that. Ain't _nobody_ got time for that.

"Exit. Ruins." I stated simply.

Toriel paused, then sighed. "I have to do something. Stay here." She started to leave, but of course I followed her. I followed her down the stairs to the lower floor and found myself in a very long, purple hallway.

I attempted multiple times to run past Toriel, but she was always a stride ahead of me. I couldn't help wondering how she did that.

"You wish to know how to exit the Ruins, do you not?" Toriel asked me as she continued to walk forward. "Ahead of us lies the end. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it." I hoped she wouldn't actually do that. It would _Ruin_ all the fun. Heh… get it? (Good job Sans) "No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs."

I continued to follow her down the hallway some more. She looked woeful, and I felt a little bad. But not bad enough to stop following her. I kept up my pace. "Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They _will_ die. You naive child… If you leave the Ruins… They… Asgore… Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? …go to your room." Yet, I kept following.

I approached a left turn in the hallway, and Toriel stood there looking determined. "Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning." She continued walking again, but of course, I ignored her warning and followed her yet again. Now the two of us were in front of the big purple door. That was the exit from the Ruins, and I would be able to go out there and meet all my other soon-to-be monster friends. This was destiny.

"You want to leave so badly?" Of course I did. Knowing all the positive outcomes of this choice didn't make me want to leave. After a silence, Toriel huffed. Her fur looked slightly ruffled. "Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." I distinctly felt the room darken as my soul was drawn out and I flew into the air. The battle was starting.

I immediately started with sparing, cutting out all the chit-chat. "I don't want to fight!" I declared. Toriel said nothing as she raised her hand and fireballs started to drop out of the ceiling. Although I knew she would be unable to kill me in the end, I chose to use this scenario as dodging practice. I had to admit, I was pretty good. I was able to easily follow along with wherever I willed my soul to move. All that work I had done with the dummy and the monsters on the way through the Ruins had really paid off. I was swift as a ballerina now. Or as swift a ballerina could be without gravity pulling her down.

"I don't want to fight!" I repeated after she paused in the middle of an attack. I continued to tell her this as she kept throwing fireballs at me and launched them from the ceiling in quick bursts. Somehow, I was able to keep my health at a decent level. My backpack did get a little singed though, but there was no real harm done.

"What are you doing? Attack or run away!" She attacked me, and attempted to look aloof. "What are you proving this way? Fight me or leave!" She was stressing out now. "Stop it. Stop looking at me that way. Go away!" An awkward silence as she ceased all her attacks.

"I need to go." I persisted, dodging another fireball.

Toriel had never seemed so sad. "I know you want to go home, but…" She paused. "But please… go upstairs now. I promise I will take good care of you and the others here. I know we do not have much, but… We can have a good life here." I refused to accept her offer, but continued to tell her I wouldn't fight. "Why are you making this so difficult? Please, go upstairs." She was silent now. "Ha ha… Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child. No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations… my loneliness… my fear… For you, my child… I will put them aside."

I found myself settling back onto the ground as my soul reentered my body. The fight was over, and I felt accomplished. Sure, beating Toriel wasn't something difficult, but let's just say that any accomplishment I achieved down here would be considered a great success.

"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins… I will not stop you. However, when you leave… please do not come back. I hope you understand." Toriel brought me into her warm motherly hug. I hugged her back, trying not to get too teary. Even though I had only known her for two real days, in the game I had known her for much longer, so this felt a lot more than it should have.

After a while, she finally let go. "Goodbye, my child." She made her way to leave, turned around once to look at me one more time, and then left… for good. And I just stood there, staring stupidly. Even after she had left and turned the corner, I continued to just stand there.

But I couldn't mope on that for too long, now could I? I had a mission. To get out of these Ruins, and to meet the skeleton brothers. I wasn't going to regret anything, I couldn't. Staying wasn't an option, I _had_ to keep moving. I heaved open the huge purple doors with my small arms and went through.

I was now heading down a very long purple hallway. It was almost as long as Toriel's independence practice for me. Maybe all this time, she had been preparing me for this? The realization made me warm, and I smiled as I confidently strode down the hall. Soon, I met two stone pillars, and went through in between them.

I was so focused on my mission that I had almost forgotten that Flowey was supposed to show up. However, when he did, I almost jumped out of my socks. "Clever. Verrrryyy clever." He said to me, wiggling his eyebrows. He had put on an extremely amused face. I wondered if he had given this same speech to the others that had spared Toriel and passed on by. "You think you're real smart, don't you? In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules." His face was starting to grow a little scarier. Let's just say that in real life, creepy flowers look a lot creepier than usual. "You spared the life of a single person. Hee hee hee…" His laugh was high pitched and disturbing. "I bet you feel really great. You didn't kill anybody this time. But what will you do when you meet a relentless killer?"

"There are no relentless killers but you." I pointed out matter-of-factly, but he ignored me.

"You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then?" Flowey's face suddenly grew menacing, and I flinched on instinct. "Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely on this world… and let me inherit the power to control it? I am the prince of this world's future." He gave me a look of pure evil and cackled. And even though I knew this conversation by heart, it still sent shivers down my spine, and completely _rattled my bones_. I smiled at that thought.

"Why are you smiling?" Flowey's face was now of disbelief. "Do you think this is a joke? Just a game?" Suddenly his face turned mischievous, and I wondered if he knew a lot more than he let on. "Well, no matter. Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is _so_ much more interesting." He then gave me one last evil grin before popping back into the grassy ground from where he had come. He left no trace of him behind. I wondered how he did that. I mean, he must've left at least a hole or some bent strands of grass, right? I prodded my chin, and then shrugged before continuing on my way out. I couldn't let Flowey bother me too much. After all, he's always been an ass, so there's no surprise to what he did just now.

The doors of destiny were before me. After opening these doors, I would really be starting on my adventure. I took a deep breath and pushed the doors open as white light streamed in and covered my face of pure delight.

* * *

 **BYE BYE RUINS! NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN! Or will we?... :3**

 **Still no alternate ending suggestions, but that's fine. (If you want more info on dat, just head on to the end of Chapter 4) I hope you enjoyed! ~Pizza**


	7. Absences

**To _Guest_ (btw, real creative name you got there): I suppose I will try to take your suggestion into use to a later chapter, but I just need to remind ya'll that I'm taking ALTERNATE endings. Which means you can request a different ending/scene for a chapter that has _already_ been written. Thanks for understanding... :3**

* * *

I shut my eyes closed and waited for the light to die down before opening my eyes again. To my surprise, I found a dark, shady wood with a straight path paved straight through the center. This forest was much like the one I had entered when approaching my destination to Mt. Ebbot. But here, it was much darker, and way gloomier. Not to mention the snow that piled onto the sides of the path, making me remember my lack of proper clothing to keep my warm.

I huffed and watched my breath blow out of my mouth. Geez, it really was cold. I held my backpack straps tightly as I stomped my way through the snow to the nearby grey bush. I peered through the many leaves and branches and found a black camera hidden there, which was to be expected. It was Alphys, spying on me. I wondered if she had developed the same interest for the others that had fallen down here too.

Feeling experimentive, I attempted to reach for the camera. But the bush refused to let me take it. Let's just say that bushes are stiff, and that branches prick. After two minutes of trying, I huffed and gave up. Then I continued down the light blue path.

Although it wasn't as snowy as the area around me, it was still rather icy, and some parts collapsed like slush. I grumbled at the prospect of badly paved roads. After a while, I finally came upon an item lying on the road. Excited at finally meeting Sans, I went forward and found a stick. But it was already splintered and broken in many places, as if it had been split many times for a single purpose.

Of course. Four people have passed by this area already, so Sans would've needed to break the stick multiple times. It had occurred to me that he could've just gotten a new stick to break for more effective purposes, but I guess Sans is just lazy the way he is. I shrugged and continued, hoping to see if I could catch a glimpse of Sans as he broke the stick. But it didn't break again. Confused, I continued forward to see if there would be any sign of Sans darting between the tree trunks, but there was nothing.

I was already at the bridge. I had been so intent on looking for Sans that I hadn't even bothered to pay attention to the path I was walking on. Now my shoes were wet and cold. I snorted as I turned around again, hoping to find Sans somewhere. There was nothing.

I turned back to the bridge, completely confused. By now, Sans should've approached me and shook my hand. But instead, there wasn't a single sign of that joking skeleton. Where in the world could he be? I decided not cross the bridge, and tried waiting for him instead. I sat down on the wood boards of the bridge, as to not get my pants soaked, and I waited.

I decided to make use of my time as I unzipped my backpack and took out my computer. In the process, I made sure to not squash the butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Surprisingly, I found the computer to be in rather good condition, despite the fact that I had used the backpack as my cushion when I fell. Feeling relieved, I then flipped it open and tried to see if it worked. And once I found it could, I tried to find a connection to wifi. Of course, there wasn't any. That was obviously predictable, since I doubted monsters would be able to use internet down in the underground. Or could they? I was sure I had remembered Papyrus or Alphys using a computer in their room before, so I would have to ask them later, once I met them.

Annoyed, I decided to just take a look at the screenshots I took earlier. They were pretty uninformative, and I couldn't finish reading the article from the previous day, since I had been using Elaine's phone, and not my computer. I grumbled in an unsatisfactory way as I stuffed the computer back in my backpack.

I had low patience for this, and I sighed as I stood back up from the bridge. Was there any use waiting around here if he just wasn't going to come? I growled as I stomped back up the path and returned to the stick that had already been split into many pieces. It sure wasn't a tough-looking branch anymore. I snatched up the pieces and started venting my anger out on them by splintering them into even smaller bits, one by one.

 _Snap._ Stupid computer won't connect to non-existent wifi. _Snap._ Sans refuses to show up. _Snap._ Things just have to be diff-

"HELLO HUMAN!" I stopped my mad stick-snapping spree and turned around to find a very tall, smiling skeleton standing behind me. Skeletons looked a little bit scarier in the real world, I admit. But even then, his scariness was tuned down, as he slightly resembled cartoon characters. For some reason, he didn't look as realistic as he was supposed to. I wondered why and how that worked... "I AM-"

"The Great Papyrus!" I finished for him. It felt good to interrupt people when they were introducing themselves, since I already knew who they were and what they were going to say. It made me feel like I knew stuff. It was also a pretty big relief to see someone I knew around here. But still, Papyrus' height was pretty intimidating. I couldn't help wondering if Ricky was as tall as him.

"WOWIE!" Papyrus crowed, bringing his hands up next to his face in a flattered manner. "THE HUMAN KNOWS WHO I AM!"

"Of course." I chuckled, then asked, "Hey, where's Sans?"

"SO YOU KNOW MY BROTHER AS WELL!" Papyrus stated proudly. "HE IS AT HOME, NAPPING LIKE THE LAZYBONES HE IS." Sleeping? Why? Did he not have enough time to give a single handshake? Well, I guess you couldn't ever expect too much of Sans. "IN ANY CASE… HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU AND CAPTURE YOU! CONTINUE… ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Then Papyrus left, cape flowing behind him in a heroic manner, as he recrossed the bridge to go to the other side.

Well, if Sans was sleeping and too busy to come greet me, I guess there was nothing else I could do. I sighed before dropping the snapped sticks to the ground and rushing across the bridge after Papyrus. By the time I got to the other side, he was already gone.

I looked around to find the purple-blue lamp along with the checkpoint sentry-station. I first headed over to the lamp to find that is was literally shaped exactly like me! Which made me wonder how well it covered the others, especially with Ricky being all tall and stuff. The convenience of the lamp filled me with determination. I then headed to the sentry-station and found ketchup, mustard, and relish inside. Feeling mischievous, I took all the ketchup bottles and stuffed them into my backpack. It was a little full now, but that was no matter. I zipped it back up before continuing past the pine trees.

I shivered as I approached the fork in the road. The cold still seemed to be getting under my skin, and there wasn't anything I could do to solve the problem. I huffed before marching forward more, and meeting an orange box with red stripes. It was the box that could store things for me. I smiled as I unlatched the yellow hatchet and peered inside.

I expected to see a Tough Glove, but found only a Faded Ribbon and a Cinnamon Bun. It wasn't a bad find, but it definitely wasn't what I had expected. Where had the Tough Glove went? But then I realized, maybe the others were using this box too? Then that would make these boxes our shared unit of storage, not personal. It was too bad they hadn't realized it earlier, or they might not have put those items in the box. I felt no regrets as I took the Cinnamon Bun and the Faded Ribbon from the box.

I stuffed the Cinnamon Bun in one of my still available pockets as I tied the ribbon onto my hair. If I remembered correctly, it was supposed to raise my defense, since looking pretty apparently made monsters hit you less hard. With ribbon tied in hair, I turned right and continued on to where Papyrus would usually first meet me. But he wasn't there, which was to be expected. He had already talked to me, and therefore, there was no need for him to do it again. Still, the absence of Sans made me feel sad.

I continued and ignored the sentry station as I fought a couple more smaller enemies along the way. But I have to say, enemies look a lot scarier in real life. Like Icecap, for example. I mean, who _wouldn't_ be a little uneasy about a little guy wearing a huge ice hat that looked like it was about to fall off at any moment?

But even then, the battles were actually pretty fun, and I found myself practicing in the air very hard. I was judging distances, swiftly dodging and moving aside from the attacks that came at me. But after fighting Toriel, none of the attacks seemed that much harder anyway. I spared the monster easily.

Moving on ahead, I saw a sentry-station with a familiar dog face on its roof. I already knew this was Doggo's station. I went forward and expected him to suddenly pop out, but he didn't. In fact, I doubted he was even there. Just to check, I went over to ring the bell. Ring! Still no sign of him. I hoped no one had killed him. I really hoped so.

Feeling unsure, I continued past the smoked dog treats and met the huge lake of ice with the sign in the middle. I remembered it telling me something about ice, and I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. I started heading up to the left, and realized that there weren't any paths around, which resulted in my having to trudge through deep snow. Maybe the ice had been a better prospect. I _pfted_ as I felt my socks grow wet and my pants become soaked. I tried my best to ignore it.

Soon, I had found the Snowman, looking a little deformed. His little carrot nose was so cute, and I had no idea what his eyes and mouth were made of. Surprisingly, it didn't have the signature stick arms that most snowman equipped. I wondered if every single person ahead of me had taken a piece of him, to bring to the ends of the world.

"Hello. I am a snowman." A voice rang out from the pile of snow. The mouth on the snowman wasn't moving, unsurprisingly. "I want to see the world… But I cannot move. If you would be so kind, traveller, please… Take a piece of me and bring it very far away." I looked down at that small deformed snowman and shook my head. If he was still offering, it meant that someone had already taken a piece of him already. But I didn't want to risk killing him, as much as I liked food and healing items.

"Sorry. But I can't. You're already so…" I paused to think of the right word. "Small?" The snowman looked disappointed for a moment, but then understanding seemed to pass over his expression as he continued to stare at me.

"A little piece." He suggested. I debated about this for a while before nodding and taking a _very_ small portion of him from his upper body. I put it in an empty potato chip bag, and hoped it wouldn't melt. But I had a bad feeling it eventually would.

"Thank you…" The snowman whispered before wishing me, "Good luck!"

"Thanks." I smiled at the snowman and waved a hearty good-bye before putting the snow-filled bag into my backpack and continuing on.

My tromping along made all the items in my backpack jiggle. It reminded me of all the things I had done and collected so far on my journey. Water bottles, chips, and computer from home. The stick from above ground, when we approached Ricky. Water from the Rivers, and the band-aid from Elaine. A Spider Donut and Cider from the Bakesale. A butterscotch pie and a snowman piece in empty chip bags. A Faded Ribbon and Cinnamon Bun from the box. I hoped I hadn't forgotten anything.

I wondered how many items my backpack would be able to hold. I had already foiled the games' rules by bringing my backpack with me, and so many things were changed since all seven people fell down into Mt. Ebbot on practically the same day.

Suddenly, I had to fight another enemy that looked strangely peculiar. He looked a lot like Snowdrake, but wore dark sunglasses instead. Then I realized it was _Chilldrake_ , the enemy that only showed up when Snowdrake was killed. Did someone _kill_ Snowdrake?

 _No_ , I couldn't think like that. I uneasily spared Chilldrake and continued on, wondering who must've done it. But then I shoved the uneasiness away and convinced myself it was probably just another change, with everyone coming down here in Mt. Ebbot all at once.

But no matter what changed, I was still going to have fun, and to the best of my ability. Nothing was going to shake me. I felt myself filling up with… _determination!_

* * *

 **This ended weirdly since I realized the chapter was going too long and had to abruptly end it. -_- Hope it wasn't that obvious! :D**

 **Already 20 FOLLOWERS. O.O (YESSSSSSSSS!) Thank ya'll so much! And I hope you enjoyed... ~Pizza**


	8. Puzzles

I moved on towards an empty space and found Papyrus on the other side, waiting for me. I was about to take another step, but then he stopped me with a raise of his arm. ""OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING!" Oh! That's right, it was the electricity maze. "FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE!" Called it. "WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE… THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!" Papyrus brought out a sky blue orb. It was smooth and shiny, not to mention very pretty. I wondered if he had given this exact one to all the other people that had passed by here. "SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK." He sounded uncertain, and that just made me chuckle a little inside. "OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

I knew what was going to happen. I would walk forward, Papyrus would get shocked, and then he would go through the maze and give me the orb, leaving behind a trail of footprints. But I didn't really want to see Papyrus get zapped. That would probably not be a very pretty sight.

"Uh… I think I have to hold the orb." I pointed out, hoping it would convince him to give me the orb right away.

"OH," Papyrus mused, seeming to realize this too. "OK." To my relief, he came over without question, threw the orb into the air, and ran back to his side. I caught the orb in mid fall with my hands, and then placed it on my head. There was no way I was going to catch that with my head, though I had no idea how the character in the game always managed to do it.

"OKAY, TRY NOW!" Papyrus ordered me once I had balanced the ball on my head. I raised my eyebrows before starting to follow his exact footsteps through the maze. Personally, I found balancing the orb on my head to be much harder than solving the maze itself. However, I had finally managed to make it to the end without dropping the orb.

"INCREDIBLE!" Papyrus marvelled at my maze-solving and orb-balancing skills. "YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY… TOO EASILY! HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY DR. ALPHYS HERSELF! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" He then excused himself by quickly running away backwards.

I didn't follow him yet. Apparently, Sans' puzzle wasn't next. Papyrus had just skipped on to the puzzle after his, which was Alphys'. Maybe it was because Papyrus had already realized how useless Sans' puzzle was from the previous people, and was learning from his mistakes. That did make this less fun… but I wasn't going to let it dampen my spirits! I finally took down the blue orb from my head and realized that Papyrus had never taken it back. Maybe I should return it to him later. For now, I would keep it in my backpack.

Moving on, I had finally met the Nicecream Man. In game, I had always had trouble figuring out what animal he was, but close up I now understood completely. He was a bunny. With red fur inside his ears. And his eyes were closed, and quiet.

"I don't understand why these aren't selling… It's the perfect weather for something cold…" I slowly approached the Nicecream Man's bright red cart with the big umbrella on it. I didn't know why it was needed, since I was pretty sure it never rained or snowed in Snowdin.

Suddenly, one of the Nicecream Guy's eyes opened, and his face suddenly brightened up as he smiled in delight at my appearance. So he had finally noticed me. Although I admit, he looked a lot more adorable when he was happy.

Oh wait, he wasn't an octopus. He was a bunny with blue ears. And the inside part was red. Figured.

" _Oh! A customer!_ " He nearly shouted, "Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15G!" That didn't seem to be that bad of a deal, but I figured it would be more worth it once I reached the Waterfall. That way, I could use an umbrella for discounts and receive punch cards. Plus, right now really wasn't the perfect weather for a cold treat. A cold wind suddenly blew by, and I shivered at the thought of it.

So I politely refused his offer. "Well then…" He pondered, "Tell your friends that there's icecream in the middle of the woods!" I nodded my head, even though I didn't have that many friends in the Underground yet. But I guess every customer counted.

I crossed another small bridge, and couldn't help looking down into the abyss below it. Sure, there were trees down there, but I really doubted that they could help once someone fell. I hoped no one else fell down there. I carefully made my way across the bridge and found the snowball on the paved area. Relieved, I stepped there and shook snow off my pants.

I was up for the snowball-golf challenge alright. For some reason, this also felt like destiny. Like it would tell me what my future foretold. Before starting though, I went ahead and took a good look at the terrain ahead. There was ice that would get in the way, and the path curved around in a backwards S shape, but that was all. Satisfied, I headed back to the snowball and took a deep breath. And then I started.

With the easy part ahead, I started with strong controlled kicks that moved the ball around where I needed it to go. I tried not to make too many rash movements, but I still kicked quickly and accurately. Soon, I was at the ice section. I skirted past it, and gave the snowball a final kick before it bounced into the hole at the end. Suddenly, a reg flag shot up from where the snowball disappeared, and I was curious as to see what it would say.

"Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at 'Ball Game,'" I had never gotten this result before, and it delighted me to know the flag thought so highly of me. But even then, why hadn't it mentioned determination? Was that not a thing?

I mused for a moment before reaching down into the hole, and grabbing handfuls of gold! I smiled in delight as I reached in and picked them all out, totaling a great big 52 G! I couldn't help wondering where the extra 2 G came from, until I realized that maybe an earlier person had played the game and forgot their share. I shrugged, and decided to give it back to them later, once I found out who it belonged to.

Moving on, I realized there was no Sans to sell me any fried snow. Now that was a disappointment. I sighed before continuing on and passing by the area where I would usually do Sans' Word Search puzzle. Now the place was deserted, except for a single piece of soggy paper lying on the snow. I went forward to investigate, but only found it to be the abandoned word search. I debated on taking it with me, but then decided to leave it there for the next people. I was pretty sure James and Elaine would've liked to see this puzzle.

Moving ahead, I found a note, a table with spaghetti on it, and a microwave. I went to the note first, and chuckled as I read it. Papyrus had never failed to amuse me, and it really helped to lighten my spirits. Honestly, whoever used the word _japed_? That was just too funny to ignore.

I also went to read the labels on the microwave, and that didn't fail to keep my spirits up either. I shook my head good naturedly as I went to the hole in the side of the wall. Once again, there was the squeaking of mice present there. I looked back to the table and microwave and figured I would never be able to heat up the spaghetti. But knowing that the mice might one day find a way to heat up the spaghetti… now _that_ filled me with determination. I felt all my past bruises heal, and I smiled before continuing.

But Lesser Dog showed up. I grinned at his happy composure and wagging tail, although I had to admit his neck looked pretty long already. It was probably from the petting that the previous people had given him. His white fur was white and fluffy, and very tempting to pet. I started petting him between attacks, and his neck stretched to where no dog had ever went. I continued to pet him, even as his neck started coming back down. Soon, the neck stretched no longer. I knew I had to spare him, and I was sad to see him go.

Then, I was quickly warned by Dog Marriage, and I knew what was coming up. I quickly went to flip the correct switch without using the map, and went on to meet the two Dog Guards. They remarked on my weird smells before engaging me in a fight. I did all the necessary requirements to beat them, although rolling in the dirt wasn't exactly the first priority on my list, but what had to be done had to be done. By the time they had thanked me and left, I was covered from head to toe with mud. Disgusted, I used the snow to clean myself off, but that only made myself colder. Good riddance.

Now completely dirty and soaked, I went on and finally met the button puzzles! Now these were easy. But solving the puzzle would mean walking off the path and trudging through snow again. I sighed before going on ahead to step down on the shape in the snow. I had no idea how the shapes changed once I stepped on them, and I wasn't going to figure out anytime soon. Finishing the puzzle, I stepped on the large grey button in the middle of the snow.

"WHAT!?" Papyrus was here again, "HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY… IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?"

If he was talking about the spaghetti, then there wasn't much to lie about, was there? "I left some for you." Well I think it's perfectly fine to bend the truth.

"REALLY!? WOWIE…" Papyrus looked admiring. "YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA… JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME? FRET NOT HUMAN! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS… WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT!" Cue laughing. "HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!"

I followed him past the now sheathed spikes as he continued to rant on. "MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY. HOW SADDENING…" He frowned. "SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO… WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM? NYEH HEH HEH!" I smiled good naturedly at his self-confidence.

Soon, we had finally reached the next shape puzzle. "HUMAN!" Papyrus declared, "HMMM… HOW DO I SAY THIS… YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO… I DECIDED TO RESET AND IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE… BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE." Typical Papyrus. "UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! AND, AS USUAL, MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND." Yeah, he's too busy sleeping at home to even come and greet me. "I SUPPOSE WHAT I AM SAYING IS…" His cape suddenly began to flow behind him from the cause of invisible wind. "WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED! MEANWHILE, FEEL FREE TO TRY THE PUZZLE YOURSELF! I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!"

I already knew the answer to the puzzle, but I was feeling mischievous. So I headed over to the tree next to Papyrus and found a switch there, which I pulled. Then I stepped on the grey button, and all the X's turned to O's.

"WOW! YOU SOLVED IT! AND YOU DID IT ALL WITHOUT MY HELP…"

"Yep."

"INCREDIBLE! I'M IMPRESSED! YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO! WELL, I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU! NYEH! HEH HEH! HEHEHEH!" Then Papyrus strode on ahead, making me feel proud of myself, even though I knew I had sort of cheated.

Going on, I finally met Alphys' puzzle, introduced by Papyrus himself. After the explanation, which wasn't needed since I had already memorized everything, I told him I understood and allowed him to turn the puzzle on. Papyrus told me that the puzzle created would be one that I had never seen before, and that even he wouldn't know the answer. Of course, I wasn't worried. It would just…

My eyes widened as I saw the puzzle. It was colorful, with different colored tiles everywhere. There were not many pink tiles in sight, meaning that the puzzle machine had actually worked! I faced Papyrus in a confused manner, but he was already twirling himself away. I decided not to call him, and tried to do the puzzle myself.

It was a good things I remembered the rules, or else I wouldn't have made it. Sometimes, I would think that there was no other way to continue, but then I would find the tile that smelled like lemons, and I could pass by the piranhas. Surprisingly, the blue tiles actually were water, and I found myself getting more soaked than I already was. I had to lift my backpack above my head to keep it from turning wet. I grumbled as I continued the puzzle.

I had eventually got the end, after getting shocked, soaked, and bitten on. Fortunately, the fish actually weren't actually piranhas, they were just harmless fish. Even then, they were annoying. I flipped my hair pensively as I went forward.

Moving on, I found dozens of snow dogs with long necks stretching out from the ground all around me. They were all deformed and twisted, but still kinda cute. I remembered that it was lesser god that made those sculptures, and realized that it must've taken a long time. Knowing that dog will never give up trying to make the perfect snowdog filled me with determination. I went on to talk to the doe in purple.

"That dog considers itself and artist, but doesn't ever know what to create. It probably doesn't help that its brain is the size of a piece of kibble." I glowered at the deer and stuck out my tongue at her before quickly leaving. Although I didn't see her expression, I was quite sure it would've been priceless to see.

Ahead, I found the last shape-ice puzzle. But first, I headed down to the right, where I found two snowman. Or at least, one of them was a snowman, but the other was just a lump of snow. I admired Papyrus' handiwork and the red marker that was scribbled onto the snow by Sans. Feeling slightly left out, I gathered up some snow built a little snowman of myself, right in between the other two.

Backing up, I could see it wasn't my best work. But seeing three cute little snowmen lined up in a row really is impressive. I grinned in satisfaction as I headed back up the slope to the shape-ice puzzle. But when I looked more carefully, I realized that the puzzle was already done. I slapped my forehead and shook my head. Someone had already solved this, so there was no need for me to do it again. I then took a careful step onto the ice, and immediately slipped.

I feel on my behind as I slid forward to the grey button. Now my behind was cold as an icicle. I grumbled as I picked myself up and walked onto the icy platform, which only made me slip again. As I was sliding, I felt snow drop onto my head, and I wondered how I could get any colder or wetter than I was already. Finally reaching the end of the ice platform, I shook the snow hat off my head and moved onward, not even bothering to head down the other path. If Sans wasn't there, then there wouldn't be a need for me to go there.

I passed by some snow piles and found some G in the last snow pile before continuing. I approached Greater Dog and flew around in the air, only to occasionally come down to interact with the dog. In the end, I found his departure to be quite _humerus_. (Wow Sans)

And then, I was at the bridge of doom. It swayed intimidatingly in front of me, and I debated on how to cross it. Obviously, crossing this would finally lead me to the town, but it didn't exactly look safe in real life. The frail rope that hung to the side as support did not accomplish much in making me feel safer. But after taking a deep breath, I took a wobbly step forward and carefully made my way across, trying not to look down.

But towards the end, I was stopped by Papyrus. I gritted my teeth as I waited for him to finish his speech on the Gauntlet of Terror and leave, so that I could get off the wobbly bridge. The wind that blew around me shook the already wobbly bridge and thin rope, and I growled.

Things started descending above me, and things rose from below. I couldn't help wondering how Papyrus had managed to keep those items there without them falling. What were they even attached to? This was something I felt Papyrus should be rather proud of, even if it didn't work. But would it work this time? He must've learned his past mistakes with the others by now.

After Papyrus claimed that he would be activating the trap that would "definitely work this time", I waited. When nothing happened, I realized that Sans wasn't here to intervene, so that I would have to fill in for him.

"Well?" I chattered, cold and holding on for dear life, "What's the holdup?" Papyrus looked shocked for a moment before openly denying the holdup. "That, uh…" I tried to find the best way to break it to him. "Doesn't look very activated." Papyrus paused before explaining that the puzzle seemed too easy to defeat me with. Then he retracted the weapons to who knows where. Then he claimed his victory and gave an uneasy and almost nervous laugh as he retreated to the town.

Just a few more steps, and a huge happy sign covered with snow greeted me there. I grinned as I read it, feeling hopeful and determined. For the first time, the cold around me felt a little less chilly, and the soaked clothing a little less freezing.

 _Welcome to SNOWDIN!_

* * *

 **Da fuq? Why was this chapter so long?... I guess I wanted to get the snow part over with so that we could finally meet Sans. :3 And travelling through the snow area apparently took a complete _two chapters_? Whoops... seems highly unnecessary. But what's done is done, and there's no going back! :)**

 **Thanks once again for reading! _Alternate_ endings are still available to ya'll! :3 ~Pizza**


	9. Quite Bonetrousled

The sight of such a friendly little town filled me with determination. Feeling exuberant, I ran forward and headed to the first box, next to the inn. Looking inside, I found ballet shoes. I took them out and examined them, and finally put them back in after deciding I didn't need them. But seeing ballet shoes could only mean that someone was already at the Waterfall… I shook my head before scurrying around town, meeting all the monsters and seeing all the buildings. However, I didn't see or find any familiar faces, much to my dissapointment.

Seeing different monsters in real life was a sight for me, but I managed not to get too panicked. For some reason, no monster seemed to be able to tell that I was a human. The store was nice, but I didn't buy anything. However, the shopkeeper did give me some background information on the skeleton brothers, and that was certainly an interesting conversation. Grillby's really did smell greasy, and I found all my fellow dog friends there. Then I remembered my stick, and realized that I could've easily spared all of them just by using it. But what was done was done, so I just told them that there was ice cream in the middle of the woods. For some reason, that seemed to make Lesser Dog excited.

I moved on forwards to the skeleton's house. It was wooden and colorful christmas lights were strung around the roof and porch. One of the windows were open, but I was too short to look through it. There was also a seemingly misplaced pirate flag with a skull at the top of the house. I tried getting in, and when I realized it was locked, I remembered how it would be open to me after I beat Papyrus. Deciding to do it right away so that I could finally meet Sans, I headed to the inn to take a quick nap.

Ten minutes of snoozing and a few snacks later, I was standing in a blizzard and confronting Papyrus. Maybe I shouldn't have approached this fight without gaining some proper clothing first, but I was already here and there was no going back. My teeth chattered as I hugged myself and listened to Papyrus' before-the-fight speech.

"THE NEWEST MEMBER… OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" Were his last parting words before the red soul was drawn out of my body. I rose into the air with my soul to meet Papyrus' intimidating stare. However, he looked slightly confused at my red soul, and he asked about it curiously.

"Uh… what other color is it supposed to be?" Papyrus ignored my question as he sent some bones crawling along the floor. Since I was in the air, I was easily unaffected. For some reason, Papyrus looked slightly annoyed by this, but I could tell he was trying to play it cool.

"That was too easy." I teased.

"HOW SELFLESS…" Papyrus admired. "YOU WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT FIGHTING YOU… I DON'T DESERVE SUCH HOSPITALITY FROM YOU…" Wow, the Great Papyrus really was great... great at taking things the wrong way. More bones were sent from under me, and I stayed put in the air. Although this predicament made Papyrus' attacks easier to dodge, the winds seemed to blow harsher at a higher elevation.

"You're a cool dude." I smiled, trying not to shiver from the cold.

"WHAT!? FL-FLIRTING!?" Flirting? It was just a genuine compliment... it's almost funny how Papyrus takes everything the wrong way. "SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS! W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!"

I decided to pay along. I mused about this statement for a couple of seconds before responding, "I can make spaghetti."

"OH NO! YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS!" He gasped. "I GUESS THIS MEANS I HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU…?" Papyrus never failed to make me wonder how he made his strange assumptions. "LET'S DATE L-LATER! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU!"

Even as he sent more bones under me, I could tell he was thinking about what to wear for the date. Of course, he would predictably wear his classic costume on the date… right? But if I remembered correctly, he would switch off to different clothes in the middle of it. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I progressed the battle, hoping to hurry it up. It was really starting to get freezing up here. Hoping to get warmer, I flew around in the air and attempted to do some aerobics. While flying around, I noticed Papyrus dabbing stuff behind his non-existent ear.

"I won't fight." I stated simply.

"THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED 'BLUE ATTACK!'" I stayed completely still as light-blue colored bones headed towards me. I was barely able to resist myself from moving away from them. However, they would always pass through me, leaving a ghostly feeling behind. I tried not to shiver, as I was sure that would trigger as moving. Even then, I wasn't too sure. It certainly wasn't my fault that I hadn't gotten any experience with enemies that had blue attacks. Doggo hadn't been present when I was around, and Sans wasn't there to drop me any hints on blue stop signs.

Suddenly, my soul turned a shade of dark blue as I dropped to the ground. I gulped as I attempted to land gracefully on my hands and knees. It sort of worked, but then another bone came up from behind me. I tried telling my soul to fly off, and immediately turned shocked when it didn't. The bone landed head-first into me, and I felt myself being slightly launched backwards, and into a pile of snow. Shock going away, I shivered and shook myself off.

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW." Papyrus declared, and for some reason he looked a bit troubled. "THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" I gritted my teeth as I tried to tell my soul to fly upwards, but it wouldn't budge. Maybe I had to give it a different order? I tried telling it to jump, move upwards, or anything. It refused to cooperate. I was extremely annoyed, and the drifting snowflakes catching onto my sweatshirt was not helping to improve my mood.

Papyrus was already sending his next wave in rows of bones. They seemed short enough. With no other choice, I attempted to jump over them with my body's own free will, and I was extremely surprised when it worked! But it wasn't just me jumping over, my soul followed as well!

The jump was strange. It felt like I had lost a whole bunch of pounds, or maybe gravity was just not as efficient in this mode? I felt myself sustaining in the air a little longer before coming back down to the snowy earth. Apparently, having a blue heart meant that my body had full control over how _I_ wanted to move, not how the soul moved. This was completely different from the red soul! I briefly glanced at my blue soul before jumping back into the air again to avoid more bone attacks. Once again, I stayed up in the air for a while before coming back down. It was like being on the moon!

Soon, much taller rows of bones started jutting up, and I found myself retracting my legs from every jump to avoid bumping into those. Papyrus continued to dab stuff behind his ear, and I knew he was yet to figure out that he didn't have any. He quickly warned me of his special attack before sending bones from below and on top of me. Now I had to watch what passed by above me as well. I jumped and groaned as I landed in a snow patch. The blizzard blew around me harshly and even started to build up on me. I felt like an icicle. I attempted to shake it off, but then suddenly a bone jut me from behind. I hadn't seen that one due to the flurries snow. Apparently, they were coming backwards now too.

Soon, the patterns of bones became more complicated, and I found myself constantly looking behind my shoulder while jumping to avoid Papyrus' attacks. At one point, he had finally realized the non-existence of his ears and had resorted to rattling his bones. I ignored his comments on dating, as I was more focused on not getting hit or turning into a frozen snowman. My legs were starting to feel like jello. Half-way through the battle, I took a nibble of the Spider Donut. For some reason, that made me feel a whole lot healthier. And it didn't even taste that bad.

Papyrus finally announced unleashing his "Special Attack", and that immediately turned me to relief. I watched him yell at Annoying Dog, who was nearby and munching on a bone in the snow. He later retreated, and Papyrus explained on giving me a completely normal attack. But despite what he said, I knew the attacks were harder than he said they were to be. With the forces of the biting wind, and the constant launching of bones, I wasn't sure how much more I could withstand.

Eventually, a huge mass of bones appeared, and I knew it was the finale. I took a deep breath before leaping, and I urged my soul to keep leading me upwards, even past the final big bone that I knew I would find at the end. I rose higher and higher from the leap, and soon had my head in the clouds. Was I supposed to jump this high? The temperature up here was freezing. My teeth chattered as I fell back to the ground and hopped over the last bone.

"WELL…!" Papyrus huffed, out of breath. I hoped he wasn't too tired. "IT'S CLEAR YOU CAN'T! DEFEAT ME!" I smiled at his antics. "THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL _SPARE_ YOU HUMAN!" I sighed in relief and allowed my shoulders to slump. My legs were sore, my nerves were frayed, and my fingers and toes all felt extremely numb from the cold. Maybe I was exaggerating, but it wasn't exactly "cold" from where I came from. This temperature was really getting to me.

"I… I-" Before I could even accept his mercy, I found myself slumping onto the snow. It was freezing, but for some reason it still felt comfortable.

"H-HUMAN? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus' voice was edged with worry. I just chuckled and tried to wave my hand around to reassure him, but I felt weak. Way to weak. Just laying down here in the snow seemed to freeze me up even more. Maybe I would make a good human popsicle.

"I-I'm good…" My eyelids started to close. Maybe now was a good time for a nap, to take a rest… I was too tired to even figure that sleeping in the middle of a snowstorm was a bad idea. Snow started to pile onto me, but I made no move to get rid of it. Maybe if I was numb enough, I would stop feeling the cold. But then the weight started to lift off of me, and I realized that the snow was being brushed off. I sleepily squinted my eyes through the blizzard, trying to figure out what was happening.

The last thing I saw before falling asleep was Papyrus' worried face.

* * *

I felt warm and snuggly, and everywhere around me there was a soft furry feeling. Was there a blanket wrapped around me, or was I sleeping on a dog? I smelled something sweet and chocolatey, and I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch to find a skull's head in front of me. The little dots in his eye sockets were focused on me. It was nice to see a familiar face. Did Papyrus do all this for me? That was nice…

I started to move the hair out of my eyes as I began to greet him. "Hi Pap-"

"Kid, that's not how you greet a new pal." My eyes widened as I realized that the skull in front of me was too wide to be Papyrus'. And weren't his eye sockets supposed to be too narrow to see the pupils? I yelped as I realized who I was talking to.

Sans chuckled as my eyes widened. I turned my head turned around to take in my surroundings and figure out where I was. I was sitting on a green couch, with warm blankets wrapped around me, and after some inspection I realized that I was in the skeleton bros' house! That was pretty typical. Where else could I be? In front of me, there was a wooden table with a cup on it that held a warm, brown substance. In the substance were a couple of small white things that looked like marshmallows. Was that hot chocolate? That would explain the chocolatey scent in the air. I started to wonder where my backpack was, and found it sitting next to me on the couch. Relieved, but not finding Papyrus anywhere in sight, I turned my head back to the area in front of me, only to find that Sans had disappeared from his original spot.

Before I could call for him or wonder where he was, I heard a voice from behind the couch. "Turn around and shake my hand." I shifted from my sitting position on the couch to turn around to find the smiling skeleton in his puffy blue jacket, reaching out his hand to me. It was positioned perfectly so that I couldn't tell if he was holding anything. I stared at him for a moment, bathing in the moment of glory that told me the skeleton brothers were real and existed.

For some reason, Sans didn't look as scary as I expected either. Unlike Papyrus, he was short and almost had the expression of a child, but when you saw the deep circles and wrinkles under his eyes, you knew could tell he was a bit older than he let on. A quick glance confirmed that he was wearing slippers. I silently laughed at this.

I could tell that Sans was starting to get a little uneasy from my lack of movement, so I took his bony hand without another moment's hesitation. _Pbthpbthpbthphsqweeee…_ I found myself laughing at the whining of the whoopee cushion, even though I had known it would occur, and Sans soon joined me in my giggles.

"The whoopee cushion in the hand trick." He stated after the two of us quieted down.

"It's always funny." I finished for him. He gave me a look of surprise, but before I could comprehend it, I heard a very familiar and comforting voice coming from above.

"SANS? IS THE HUMAN AWAKE?" Papyrus was now visible from the stairway. "AND ARE YOU PLAYING TRICKS ON THEM AGAIN?"

"Of course not bro." Sans winked, and I wondered how he managed to do that if he was only composed of bones, no muscle. "We're just chillin'."

"HOW IS THE HUMAN?" Papyrus started to make his way down the stairs to approach me.

The skeleton was grinning, and I knew he was about to pop a pun in. " _Sofa_ , so good."

"SAAANS!" Papyrus marched down the stairs and attempted to strike an intimidating pose. "YOU ARE A BAD INFLUENCE FOR THE HUMANS!"

Before Sans could pop in another pun, I interrupted him. " _Humans_? Are there others here?..." I attempted to get up, but immediately felt wobbly. Losing my balance, I felt myself falling back down, but Papyrus caught me and lifted me up into the air in a swift and heroic manner. I felt slightly embarrassed for letting the skeleton brothers see me in such a fatigued state.

"I SEE THAT YOU ARE QUITE BONETROUSLED, HUMAN!" Bonetrousled? Is that a made-up word? "WORRY NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU! WITH MY SUPERIOR CARE, YOU WILL SOON BE BETTER IN NO TIME!" He swung me around before settling me back onto the couch gently.

"T-thanks…" I breathed, feeling Sans' eye sockets on me. I tried to ignore him. "But what were you saying earlier, about the other humans?"

Although Papyrus hadn't answered my question yet, I had still gotten my answer.

"Who are you talking to?" Someone shouted from upstairs. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't quite place who it was from. I heard stomping noises above us, and I realized that it really wasn't just the skele bros and me in the house.

"THE HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted proudly. The noises above us stopped momentarily before they started frantically heading down the stairs.

" _The human_?" This was a different voice from the previous one. "Could it be…?" Two familiar girls popped up from the bottom of the stairway, and I recognized them almost immediately. One had her hair up in a pony tail, and the other wore a purple jacket. That could only be...

That's right! It was Joyce and Cinder!

* * *

 **Okay, and now I'm going to be inserting an ALTERNATE ENDING, suggested by The Guest. (Real creative name, buddy)**

 _ **The Guest: I guess Frisk could ask sans where the others are, and then ask about his power levels...(it's over 9000)**_

* * *

I started to move the hair out of my eyes as I began to greet him. "Hi Pap-"

"Kid, that's not how you greet a new pal." My eyes widened as I realized that the skull in front of me was too wide to be Papyrus'. And weren't his eye sockets supposed to be too narrow to see the pupils? As if trying to provoke me, the pupils swerved around examining me. I yelped as I realized who I was talking to.

Sans laughed lightly as my eyes widened in shock. " _Sans?!_ " I kept my eyes on him, not wanting him to get out of my sight.

Sans chuckled again. "That's me, buddo."

"Where are the others?" I quickly asked, trying to move off of the couch, but rather failing to do so. "Where's Papyrus? And are there others here too?"

Sans looked confused now. A confused Sans looked funny. "Er… you mean Paps?" He then put on a wide grin. "Heh… my brother is so cool. Yeah, he's upstairs. And about others being here…" He didn't continue. It looked like he wasn't going to answer. I wondered why that was.

"Oh!" I thought, suddenly remembering something. "I remember what you're like in the game! You were, like… pretty powerful! I think."

Sans' eyes darkened. " _In the game?_ "

Oops. My mouth slipped. "W-well!" I said, trying to cover up my mistake. "You're really powerful right? What's your power level?"

Sans shrugged as his white pupils reappeared and a lazy grin was stretched upon his face once more. I could tell he was still bothered by my earlier statement, but he was hiding it pretty well. "I dunno, kiddo. I'm just a lazy bag of bones."

"Huh? Nu-uh!" I protested, "On the genocide route, your power levels are _over 9000!_ " I couldn't help making those last two words sound over dramatic. It was tempting, ya know?

Sans gave me a look, one of disbelief and confusion. "Genocide?" Oops, that slipped too. Before I could cover up, his pupils were gone again. " _Do you wanna have a bad time?_ " I could already feel his angry aura enveloping us, and I figured I was toast if I didn't do something quick.

"Ah…" I thought about shaking my head to answer his question, but then a figure started shouting from the top of the stairs.

"SANS? IS THE HUMAN AWAKE?" Papyrus was calling from the top of the stairway, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was the Great Papyrus, to the rescue! "AND ARE YOU PLAYING TRICKS ON THEM AGAIN?"

"Of course not bro." Sans winked, his pupils were already back to normal. "We're just chillin'." I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or upset. I had let too many things slip out of my mouth in one go. Hopefully, the skeleton would just forget about it, and not make too much out of it.

I really doubted it though.

* * *

 **And there goes the ALTERNATE Ending. You can always suggest an alternate scenario for a scene that has already occurred!**

 **After doing this, I realized just how annoying it was to CAPS all of Papyrus' dialogue. So once I had gotten to Sans, I was just thinking "Screw making all his dialogue lowercase." Cuz ya know, his lack of proper punctuation really gets to me. And is annoying. -_-**

 **I'm just gonna be giving special thanks to SarkitTheMadaNeko, 17nicholas, and skylaeatpie, (and sorta TopazStar?...) because they have just been the nicest most supportive peps and I want them to know that I really appreciate it, even if I don't always respond! :3 (And even still, thank _you_ 20 followers! I love ya all! Even when you don't give reviews!)**

 **Thanks once again for readin' and I hope you have a _San-tastic_ day! ~Pizza**


	10. Differences

Joyce was the first to speak, though her tone wasn't exactly what one would call friendly. "What are _you_ doing here?" That definitely wasn't the welcome I expected.

I must've been making a face, since Cinder gave Joyce a sharp look before coming forward to hug me. Papyrus was watching thoughtfully, and Sans just looked chill as usual, so I accepted the hug. I was still sitting on the couch, so it was rather awkward, but I still appreciated the thought behind it. I couldn't help noticing that her purple jacket was fluffy. It made me remember my lack of proper outer clothing.

"Don't listen to her." Cinder reassured me after letting go, "She's just being touchy."

"Am not!" Joyce protested. "I can't just have people barging in and taking away my only possible chance of success!" What success? I noted that Cinder had rolled her eyes at this, but for some reason Sans had done the same as well. What was that all about?

I decided to speak my mind. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We're just glad that you made it here safely," Cinder said, ignoring my question, "Even if we didn't expect you to arrive."

"We didn't expect someone from the likes of _you_ to arrive." What in the world was Joyce's problem?

I could tell that Cinder was trying to stop a fight, but I was going to back down from one if it came to it. I gave Joyce a hard stare."And your point is?..."

"Well, E-"

"Frisk." I corrected, seeing that she was about to address my name. But from this single comment, I received multiple stares from everyone in the room. Even Papyrus, although I was pretty sure it was from confusion.

"THE HUMAN HAS A NAME?"

"Frisk." I repeated quickly.

"T-that's!" Joyce was slightly pale. She put a foot forward and pointed an accusing finger at me. "That's not _your_ name! You're _stealing_ it!"

Well, I was very aware of that. I returned her comment with a harder glare, and tried to look as intimidating as I could. Or at least as intimidating a person could look while sitting on a couch. "So?"

"You can't do that!" Joyce almost shouted, marching forwards and pointing a finger at my forehead. I slightly flinched, and I could see that Cinder was ready to break us apart if needed. "That's _Frisk's_ name, not yours!"

Cinder started to look a bit worried. "Guys, this really isn't the place for-"

"Gee, what's the big deal?" I retorted, ignoring her. "I just didn't want to use my name 'cuz this place is too special for it!" Joyce looked like she was going to spout another comment, but then she stopped herself in time and put on a smirk.

"THIS PLACE?" Papyrus noted, putting on a confused expression. Sans was now giving me a suspicious glance. He was hiding it pretty well from under his smile though.

"Erm… as in your house." I patched up quickly.

"You're right." Joyce pondered, ignoring the exchange I had had with Papyrus. "This place _is_ too special for your terrible name! It only makes sense that you would want to get rid of it and replace it with a better one." I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that she understood, or offended at her logic.

"Gee kid." Sans grinned at my expression, "You look like you're chilled… _to the bone_." I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood.

However, Papyrus did not appreciate his efforts as much as I did. "SANS!" The tension inside of me loosened up as I heard the two brothers fighting, and I let out a small laugh at Sans' terrible pun. Cinder joined in, and even Joyce eventually (but almost reluctantly) did so.

"I like my name." Cinder popped in after we all quieted down.

"Well, I like _my_ name." Joyce stated, placing her hand on chest for emphasis. Pigtail bobbing, she headed over to Sans. "Don't _you_ think so, Sansy?" _Sansy?_

"Uh… I think I better go _ketchup_ with Grillbyz." Sans winked before disappearing in place, just as Joyce made the move to hug him.

"No fair!" She huffed indignantly, then sighed. "I guess he was just too embarrassed, huh?" She glared at Cinder and I, daring us to say otherwise.

"WELL THEN!" Papyrus concluded, skeletal hands on hips. Although he still seemed to be slightly ruffled from San's last-minute departure pun, he was putting on a rather good act of hiding it. "I SEE YOU ALL ALREADY KNOW EACH OTHER! WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY NO SURPRISE TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH!" Then he faced me. "I WILL NOW GO PREPARE A SPAGHETTI DISH TO CHEER YOU UP, HUMAN! WHEN YOU ARE FEELING BETTER, WE WILL HAVE OUR DATE!" I noticed Cinder's brief flash of shock as he strode away to the kitchen.

I chuckled and turned to the other two, who were giving me quizzical looks. "What?"

"You're going on a date with _Papyrus_?" Although Cinder and Joyce had asked it at the same time, they had both asked it with different tones of voice. Joyce's was of pure disgust, and Cinder's was almost with… longing?

"Well, yeah? That's what's supposed to happen in the game." I shrugged, then eyed the two warily. "Didn't you two go on a date with him?"

"Never!" Joyce declared, then eyed the ceiling with a daydreamy look in her eyes. "There is only one for me!" Basing my knowledge on how she was about to cling onto Sans makes me think I may have a slight idea about who she's talking about.

I turned to Cinder, who looked a bit red in the face. "What about you?"

"A-ah…" She stuttered, "Well, I…"

"You're never going to say it are you? No matter! I'll say it for you!" Cinder looked ready to protest, but Joyce ignored her. "She has a crush on Papyrus!"

Cinder looked like she had been hit in the face with a dodgeball.. "Why did you-"

"DID SOMEONE SAY MY NAME?" Papyrus poked his head out from the side of the kitchen, giving us a curious glance. We all froze in our places.

"We were just talking about how awesome you are!" I reassured him quickly, while Cinder gave me a thankful look.

"WHY, OF COURSE, I AM VERY GREAT! I AM GLAD YOU ALL AGREE! NYEH HEH HEH!" He then turned back to the kitchen and went back to clanking pots and pans together. I knew because I could hear the noises.

Cinder had turned back to Joyce now. Her face was flushed red from anger. "I _was_ going to say it." She hissed, "I just didn't want you saying it for me! How would you like it if _I_ told E… I mean, Frisk!" She gave me a sorry and confused look, like she was trying to apologize to me for almost calling me by my real name, but was still confused by my decision to change it. She then shook her head and continued. "How would _you_ like it if I told Frisk _your_ crush, huh?"

Joyce looked shocked for a moment, and I wished I had a camera. Like the one Alphys had hid in the bush. Maybe I should've worked harder to get it. "You _wouldn't_!"

"Well, you did!" Cinder retorted.

"Guys, guys, calm down." I sighed, waving my hands. "There's nothing to-"

"Don't ' _calm down_ ' me!" Joyce mocked, now turned on me. "You have no idea what we're talking about! How could _you_ understand?"

I tried to force my expression to remain mild and unchanging, but I was having low luck with that. "You have a crush on Sans, don't you?"

Joyce's reaction confirmed my suspicions. The shock that crossed her face really _was_ priceless this time. I badly needed that camera. However, what I didn't expect was for Joyce to turn back to Cinder. "Y-you _told her_!?"

"What? _No_!" Cinder quickly defended herself. "When would I even have the time to do that anyways? We literally just met, and you were there with us the whole time!"

"Excuses, excuses!" Joyce wagged her finger. She sounded a lot like the Mad Dummy right now.

Even then, I felt a deep need to defend Cinder as well. I turned to Joyce and remarked, "Let's just say that you're not the best at hiding emotions, yes?"

"Yeah!" Cinder quickly agreed, nodding her head at the befuddled Joyce. "To be honest, the way you act around Sans should be pretty much obvious enough."

"Yeah." I nodded, then winked. "A crush on _Sansy_."

Joyce looked like she was steaming before she glared at me. "And who do _you_ have a crush on, may I ask?" It sounded like a threat, like not answering would be the cost of my life.

I just returned her look with a raised eyebrow. Trying to be all cool and unnerved, like a Sans, was actually pretty difficult. "Even if I had a crush, it's not like I would tell you…"

"So you _do_ have a crush!" Joyce accused, "And it doesn't just happen to be a skeleton now, hm?" She was now giving me an ultimate death glare. I didn't know how I did it, but I was able to keep on a completely straight face. It looked like I was successfully copying Sans.

"I said, 'even if I had a crush'… which means I don't have one."

"But people only say that when they do have one!" Hm… good point. I mused this over while Cinder finally decided to comment.

"Honestly Joyce, you're alone on your quest of love. No one is getting in your way." Joyce shot her a look before putting on a smug expression.

"Well, of course!" She remarked. "Once people know that _I'm_ in line for Sans, they'll realize that they have _no chance_ at the competition!" I mentally slapped myself for Joyce's stupidity, but maybe it was better for her to get the wrong idea than the right one.

"Uh… sure." Cinder mumbled, probably not even sure herself how to answer to Joyce's strange remarks. "But hey, let's talk about what's going on around here." To my surprise, she turned to me. "Recount everything that's happened, will ya? We need to compare the things that are occurring."

"Why?" I was honestly rather curious at this request.

"Some things are starting to change… we need to figure out why and how. We've been analyzing and comparing how things are occurring for all of us, to try to figure out the differences. _Right_ , Joyce?" Cue a nod from Joyce. "Go on ahead, we won't interrupt you. Or at least, _I_ won't…" Cinder shot a glare at Joyce again.

Joyce rolled her eyes and groaned before confirming, "I won't either."

"Well then… I guess?" I made myself comfortable and finally took the hot chocolate from the table, slowly sipping it. It was warm and absolutely perfect. Cinder seated herself on the ground next to my feet and Joyce found her own place on the couch, next to my backpack. Then I started right from the beginning, when I had fell into the patch of golden flowers. I went on to talk about Flowey's early appearance, then Toriel's cottage along with my friends, how exiting the Ruins had went, and all the happenings that had occurred up on my way to Snowdin. However, I had left out the facts about the twig-snapping spree, stealing from the box, and Chilldrake. I felt like those things didn't need to be mentioned, for now.

Although Joyce had promised not to interrupt, she still had done so during a couple of parts, and each time earning a glare from Cinder. When I had mentioned James, she immediately asked how he was. It was nice to know that she still cared a bit for him, even after abandoning him.

When I mentioned unnatural things that would usually not occur in the game, they just nodded gravely and allowed me to continue. So I did, all the way up to Papyrus' battle and waking up in their household. I left out the weird introduction between me and Sans.

"I think Frisk's journey was the most accurate one." Cinder summarized, "Even though there were still a couple of different things happening…"

"Yeah, you had it easy." Joyce mocked. "Since I was the first to enter, _I_ had to do all of Papyrus' puzzles."

"You were _first?_ " I couldn't help silently gasping. "Then what about Ricky? He must've been really disappointed."

"Ricky was _third_." Joyce smirked. "James was second, along with me, although he didn't tag along when I went on ahead." She scowled slightly. "And Ricky seemed pretty pissed off when he realized I had already done all the puzzles for him. But since I decided to stop in at Snowdin, he went on ahead."

"You stopped in Snowdin for _Sans_." Cinder teased.

Joyce huffed, then whispered as not to gain Papyrus' attention again. " _You_ stopped in Snowdin for Papyrus." Cinder's face turned red.

"But the tile puzzle…" I pointed out, trying to get the conversation back to the point. "I had to actually solve that one."

Joyce crossed her arms. "Well, that puzzle was easy."

"That's because it wasn't scrambled for you. Since you were the first, the puzzle wasn't even fixed yet." Cinder rolled her eyes. "And mine wasn't either. Because… it was never even activated in the first place." She then smiled sheepishly. "Because I told him I didn't get the rules."

"You _what_?" Joyce huffed. "That puzzle's the easiest one around!"

"It's better to be honest. And like I said!" Cinder shrugged. "Your's was easy because it wasn't even scrambled up. Frisk, on the other hand…" She turned to look at me, but I was thinking.

"Well maybe…" I mused, continuing to sip hot chocolate, "It's because Papyrus learned from his earlier mistakes. So he fixed the puzzle up so that it would work?"

"Hey, that's right!" Cinder clapped her hands together, like she had just realized something. "Did you do the puzzle where the Papyrus shaped the snow to make it look more like his face?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Well, when we did it, it wasn't even shaped yet! When Joyce passed through, the shape was round. When I passed through, the shape was deformed. I think it was Papyrus trying to improve it, to make it harder."

"I feel like everyone is trying to improve." I noted, placing the now-empty cup back on the wooden table. "When I first dropped down into the underground, Flowey had already come to greet me right in the beginning instead of waiting. And when I approached Toriel, she warned me and fought me to go away."

"I didn't even need to fight her." Joyce announced smugly, and I couldn't help feeling a little surprised. "She let me right through."

"I guess she wasn't worried about you, huh?"

"Yeah! She knew I was good enough to take care of myself, so she wasn't worried."

"More like you're not worth worrying about." I wasn't exactly sure how that had slipped out of my mouth, but I didn't regret saying it. I noticed how Joyce had started to turn red, and I knew we were about to get into a fight.

"Uh, actually…" I could tell Cinder was trying to prevent an all-out-war, but she also seemed to have something important to say. Two birds with one stone. "I think we need to talk about-"

"HUMANS!" Papyrus' head popped out from the kitchen. "SPAGHETTI IS SERVED! NYEH HEH HEH!" Then he popped his head back into the kitchen, and came out later with three huge plates of stringy red stuff. Of course.

"What was it that you wanted to say?" I turned back to Cinder.

She just waved her hand dismissively, and smiled. "Later. Right now, let's eat some pasta. I'm actually pretty hungry."

I felt my stomach growl. "Eh… me too." I turned back to Papryus' happy gaze as he looked down on us. Joyce, suddenly seeming to realize what was happening, quickly got up and got ready to leave.

"HUMAN?" Papyrus faced Joyce with obvious confusion. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING? THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ABOUT TO SERVE HIS HOME-COOKED PASTA!"

"Um…" Joyce seemed to be racking her brain for a good excuse. "I need to go get Sans, and uh… bring him back! So that he can enjoy the spaghetti with us." That was a pretty decent excuse. Plus, it let her spend more time with her crush. Maybe I could start taking excuse lessons from her, since I seemed to be needing a lot lately.

"WHY, OF COURSE! I WILL LEAVE YOU AND SANS A PLATE FOR WHEN YOU GET BACK!" Joyce quickly nodded to Papyrus' approval and quickly left the house after slipping on an orange-colored jacket.

Papyrus now turned back to us, seemingly unaware of Joyce's lies. He placed the plates of spaghetti onto the table and placed a fork down beside each one. The food looked decent enough. My stomach growled in anticipation. My hunger was making it im- _pasta-_ ble to think of anything else _but_ eating.

It looked like it was time to dig in.

* * *

 **And Joyce is a bish. Did I make that obvious enough? :D**

 **I hope you liked the chapter! Although I hated to make Sans leave so soon after his appearance... ;-; ~Pizza**


	11. Souls

Surprisingly, the spaghetti had tasted rather good, and I had even asked for seconds, to the ultimate delight of Papyrus. However, Cinder seemed to absolutely love it, and asked for seconds as well. She still seemed insistent on gaining Papyrus' love and attention.

During the meal, Papyrus had claimed that we were on a date. At first, we were confused by this statement. But then Papyrus explained that the date was three-way, and that only made matters even more confusing. In the end, I decided to leave the meal early, so that Cinder could spend more time with Papyrus alone.

While I left the two to bond, I went on to explore the house on my own. Although I already knew what it was like due to the game, I was still curious as to see how it was like in real life. I wandered over to the kitchen first, and found myself admiring the _extremely_ tall sink. I wasn't even sure if Papyrus himself was tall enough to reach the top. I also convinced myself that it was best not to open the cupboard underneath it. I then took quick glances in the fridge and trash can. Not really worth it, if you ask me.

After wandering back out and passing by the TV, sock, and ignoring the book on the small table, I headed up the stairs. Up there, I found two doors and a picture frame of a bone. A classical work of art, if you ask me. I first went through the fully decorated door, Papyrus' room. He had quite a bit of action figures and books, and I couldn't help feeling curious as to what the skeletons read. After quickly admiring the pirate poster, I turned to the computer. Apparently, there _was_ internet. Would it possibly work with my laptop?... But right now, I was feeling too lazy to go back downstairs and fetch it.

I huffed before finding my way to Papyrus' car-shaped bed. It looked… very comfortable. Yawning, I found myself climbing into the bed, telling myself I would only rest for a few moments. But before I knew it, I had sunk into the deep, comfy mattress and enveloped myself in security and warmth. All in all, I fell asleep.

* * *

"Get up, lazy head!" I sleepily opened my eyes to find Joyce staring down at me. Cinder was next to her, looking surprised and slightly jealous. It wasn't my fault Papyrus' bed was so comfortable.

I felt myself stretching as I got up and yawned myself awake. Eyes more open now, I realized that Papyrus was in the room as well. I quickly hopped off the bed.

"Oh! Sorry about that." I apologized quickly. "I just, uh…"

"THAT IS ALRIGHT, HUMAN!" Papyrus was easily forgiving, thankfully. Probably another reason why Cinder admires him so. "I KNOW YOU HAVE NOT BEEN FEELING WELL LATELY, SO IT IS ALRIGHT FOR YOU TO SLEEP IN THE GREAT PAPYRUS' BED! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Oh, ok…." I mumbled with uncertainty, "Um, thanks?"

"YOU'RE VERY WELCOME HUMAN!"

I quickly nodded and faced Cinder and Joyce. "So, what's up?"

"About the thing I was trying to talk about earlier." Cinder spoke up, "We're getting ready to go outside. You should get ready too."

"Where are we headed?" I asked, all of us following her out of Papyrus' room.

"You'll see." She answered simply.

"ARE YOU ALL HEADING OUT?" Papyrus smiled in anticipation. "CAN I COME TOO?"

"Well…" I could see that Cinder was frowning. The stuff we were going to talk about… it probably wasn't the best to have someone else tagging along and listening to our conversations. "I would love to have you come," Cinder started, and there was truth there. "But…" She couldn't say anymore. It looked like lying was not going so well for her.

"We're going to Grillby's." I made the excuse quickly, and I could tell that Cinder was surprised at my eagerness to lie. "I don't think you would want to follow us there."

Papyrus was obviously making a face. "THAT PLACE IS HORRIBLY GREASY!"

"Yeah, so… you might not want to tag along."

"BUT THE OUTSIDE IS DANGEROUS!" He insisted.

I frowned. "We're just heading to-"

"IT IS FULL OF MONSTERS!" Papyrus claimed, ignoring us and heading back to his room. I think he failed to notice the way he put the threat into view. After all, both the skeleton brothers were monsters… "TAKE THIS WITH YOU!" He was back out now and holding a figure in a blue jacket by the armpits.

"'Sup?"

"Sans?" Cinder sounded incredulous. I was feeling a little surprised myself. Did Papyrus just fetch Sans from his own room? I was almost positive he wasn't in there a few moments ago…

Sans just grinned back lazily. "C'mon. You know I'm _Sans_ -ational." He winked.

"SANS!" Papyrus was obviously trying to hide a smile. "YOU'RE GOING TO ACCOMPANY THEM, NOT INFLUENCE THEM WITH YOUR HORRIBLE PUNS!"

"I think we'll be fine-"

"Of course he's coming with us!" Joyce cut off Cinder's sentence, and her tone left no room for argument. She reached for Sans as Papyrus dropped him, but he teleported next to me. That only left a confused and disappointed pout on Joyce's face.

"We might as well get going then, right kid?" It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.

"Well…" I mused this over. We obviously weren't actually heading to Grillby's, but it wasn't like we could change our lie now, especially once it was already out. And it made perfect sense that Sans wouldn't feel bothered about accompanying us to Grillby's, since he went there daily anyways.

Cinder shook her head as if she knew what I was thinking of. "Let's just go." She zipped up her purple jacket before heading downstairs, and the rest of us followed her down. Sans wasn't next to me anymore, though there was no guessing where he had went.

When we were downstairs, we found Sans next to the doorway. He gestured to the door, signaling that he would be waiting for us outside, before disappearing. I frowned as I snatched my backpack up from the couch and slipped it on. The contents it held would definitely come in handy. I followed the others to the doorway, and Papyrus announced to us that he would be working on his spaghetti recipe. I just nodded as Joyce went on ahead, presumably to find Sans. Cinder gave a hearty goodbye before leaving the house with me.

Outside, it had stopped snowing, but there was still an obvious layer of snow everywhere around us. Great, it looks like more snow to trudge through and make my socks wet. In front of us, the scene of Joyce clinging onto Sans was enough to make me sick. My expression was mirrored on Cinder's face. Even Sans seemed a little ruffled himself, but he managed to keep on a cool grin. I was never going to figure out how he was able to do that.

We had finally approached the two, and I tried blocking out the cuddles Joyce was giving to the skeleton. The four of us were now giving each other awkward glances, as if we weren't sure to actually follow up with the lie and head to Grillby's, or go where we originally planned.

"Kid, it's fine." Sans shrugged, half trying to shoulder off Joyce. "I know a lie when I hear one. Just head wherever you need to, buddy." Then he winked. "I'll _ketchup_ to ya guys later." He was then suddenly gone, and Joyce was left holding empty air.

"No fair!" Obviously, this was going to become a procedure.

I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or confused. Maybe I wasn't a good enough of a liar yet, since Sans obviously wasn't fooled by our front. At least no one would be following us now, so we could talk in peace. I faced Cinder in question. "So, where _are_ we headed?"

"Back, of course." Before I could ask for more clarification, she started heading to the west side of Snowdin, and I quickly scampered after her, with Joyce tagging along grumpily. I couldn't help wondering how many times Sans had ditched her like that already. Thinking about it made me feel smug.

We were now backtracking quite a ways, past the long bridge, past the dog marriage, past the frozen plate of spaghetti and past the word search. The whole time, I tried to keep my shivers and crawling skin discreet. Even without snow, the wind was still there, and the snow came up to my heels, and sometimes my knees when I misplaced a step. Joyce and Cinder were obviously layered up, and the two of them were even wearing boots, but I still wasn't. Just plain old tennis shoes and a striped sweatshirt. I had neglected to ask the brothers for any extra jackets, and now I was paying for it.

We were now at the ball game area. I expected us to keep going, but instead, Cinder stopped. I almost crashed into her, but stopped just in time.

"This is the place?" I admit, I was a bit confused.

Cinder just nodded. "We need to see our abilities and find out what soul colors are hearts are supposed to be. Then we can also find our dominant traits. To make sure none of us are lying, we're taking this little test."

"But let's say our abilities after the test alright?" Joyce suggested. "Take it as a guessing game." She loved her ideas, so it wasn't like we could refuse. After all, it wasn't a bad suggestion.

"I'll go first." Cinder stated, then clarified, "As an example." She then tip-toed to the beginning of the ball game. There was already a single, large snowball waiting for her there. I had no idea how it got there. Joyce and I waited in anticipation for Cinder to begin the game. After taking a deep breath, she started.

The whole time, Cinder hopped and twirled around the ball. It was so agile and graceful, I felt a little stumped. The ball was always in her control, and never got out of hand or ricocheted. Even when the snowball slipped onto the ice, Cinder simply jumped over and regained control, refusing to slide on the slippery stuff. Soon, the ball was in the hole, and a flag rose out to meet her. It was dark blue.

"My soul is dark blue." Cinder stated, as she stuck her hand in the hole for her coin reward. She picked out 2G. "In battle, gravity forces me down, but I can jump as high as I like."

"That's integrity, isn't it?" Joyce guessed. "I remember that one. The dark blue soul represented the trait of honesty." Wow, even I had forgotten that one. It looks like being an Undertale addict in Undertale is pretty useful. Cinder started to head back to us with a smile on her face. Since her soul trait is blue, I guess I can always count on her to tell the truth.

"I'm guessing that's why Papyrus looked confused in the battle." I shrugged, suddenly remembering how baffled he was when he had seen my soul. "He looked pretty surprised when he found that my soul was a different color."

"Same!" Joyce gave me a look before putting on a smug expression. "My turn." She hopped to the beginning of the ball game as Cinder joined me. Surprisingly, another snowball had appeared in place of the start, and I wondered where they came from.

Joyce crossed her arms and huffed before starting. Immediately, I could tell that things were not going so well for her. Right on her first kick, the ball flew off into a random direction and continued to bounce off the self-made snow walls. I could tell that Joyce was starting to panick, and she quickly kicked the ball forward, only to have it veer off at an angle, right onto the ice. Realizing that chaos was not the way to go, she started to more calmly kick the snowball, but her skill tactics really weren't that much more improved.

Finally, after what seemed to be a million kicks, Joyce managed to get the ball into the hole. Despite her terrible show, she was still able to strike a heroic pose, like what she managed was unbeatable. A purple flag rose from the hole.

"My soul is purple." She seemed a little upset when her reward turned out to be a small 2G, but I supposed it was also from her lack of proper skill during the ball game. "In battle, I leap between purple lines of whatever material is close by."

I was obviously confused. "Huh?"

She smirked. "Of course someone like you wouldn't get it. But you're not worth explaining to." I silently fumed, and Cinder gave me a glance that told me she would explain later. "Purple," Joyce continued, "Is perseverance. I never give up." Yeah, like how you never give up on annoying me. And chasing Sans.

"We can see that." I snickered, hopping down to the new snowball that appeared out of nowhere. It was my turn now. I couldn't wait to show Joyce what I was capable of. Once the two were at the sidelines and ready to watch, I closed my eyes and thought things out before beginning.

Everything was going good until I got to the end, where I had accidentally misplaced one of my feet on the ice. Soon, I found myself slipping to the other side, away from the ball. I quickly started getting back to it, but it was already starting to shrink. Angry at the way that I had failed to get the ball to the end without perfection made me give one last kick to it, before it sailed straight into the hole. Justice was served.

But when a yellow flag came up, I was completely bewildered. My jaw was wide open.

"It looks like you have a yellow soul." Cinder said when she realized I wasn't going to speak. She trotted over to the hole and picked out 3G. "Wow! You got 1 more gold than us!" She attempted to hand it to me, but I remained unmoving.

"If I remember correctly, that's Justice." Joyce put in.

"B-but!" I quickly tried to explain the mistake. "My soul color is red!" The two looked at me funny before they started laughing. What was that about? This wasn't a joke!

"C'mon, F-Frisk!" Cinder shook her head. "The flag is yellow, and your trait is justice. Based on what I know about the yellow soul, you fly around during battle, don't you?"

"Well, yes! But-"

"And you are intent on being justified." Joyce pointed out, hopping down to meet me. "And don't go telling us your soul is red when the flag obviously contradicts it. Why would anyone like _you_ have determination?" I felt myself stiffening, and I realized I was frozen to the spot. That insult was a bit too much, even for me. Especially since I actually _did_ have a red soul.

"Well, why _not_?" I huffed back.

"Trying to bring justice to yourself again, huh?" Joyce just simply shrugged nonchalantly, making me fume more. This obviously pleased her. "Determination is the strongest trait for any soul. But you? _You_ couldn't be the strongest one, there's no way even. Telling us a lie like that is pure mockery. And not to mention…" Joyce hesitated.

"You see," Cinder explained in a subdued voice, filling in Joyce's absence. "Since determination is the strongest, the one with the red soul will be able to save and reset." So only I was able to reset? That's… that's crazy! Out of all the seven that fell, I'm the one that gets the power over time. Absolutely sweet! "Of course, we can still be filled with our desire from our strongest traits! Like, telling Papyrus that his spaghetti is delicious fills me with integrity!"

"And charging through the Ruins filled me with perseverance." Joyce put in.

"And living in Undertale fills me with determination!" I smiled.

" _No no no…_ " Joyce wagged her finger at me as if I were a small child that needed to be scolded. "It fills you with _justice_ , not determination. Determination is reserved for the red soul."

I felt like spouting another defense to myself, but then hesitated. It would just make me look more like a Justice soul, although I was feeling a pretty deep need to be justified right now. Instead, I decided to say something else to Joyce, and hoped to ruffle her up a bit.

"Well, it looks like _you're_ not _good enough_ …" I paused for dramatic effect. "To have a red soul of determination." Joyce stood still to process it. Just when I though my words had no affect on her, she began to turn red on the face. I could swear steam was coming out of her ears.

Although I had meant it as an annoying joke, Joyce looked as angry as mad buffalo. Heck, she looked like I had just called her a mental, radioactive chicken. Had I really offended her that much? Well, I didn't regret it, not one bit. Ears pink, Joyce stormed back to Cinder and started to drag her along back to Snowdin. Cinder gave me an apologetic glance.

"We're leaving!" Joyce announced loudly, not waiting to see if I was following or not. In which case, I wasn't going to. In fact, I was going to play the ball game again, just to prove them wrong. I mean… I wasn't _actually_ a justice soul, was I? Feeling unsure, I quickly headed back to the start and approached a fresh snowball. After taking a breath, I started to kick it.

Quick, steady, surefire, and determined, I was able to get the snowball in the hole with pure perfection, no mistakes included. I found myself extremely relieved when a red flag popped up the hole from where the snowball disappeared, and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. So I was definitely the red soul, no doubts there. The previous run had just been a slight flaw, that was all. I turned around to see if the two had seen my success, but they were already too far away. In fact, they were too far away for me to even call out to them.

I suddenly noticed something move at the corner of my vision, and I quickly turned around to face it. But… there was nothing. Just white snow and a few pine trees. I huffed with uncertainty, but then convinced myself it was just lesser dog or some other enemy mob wandering around.

I sighed before reaching into the hole to pick out my 50G reward. It was nice to know that I had earned the most profits out of the three of us, even though Joyce was always so big-headed. After taking handfuls of the small coins and putting them into my pockets, I reminded myself to get a wallet. Then, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I quickly jogged after Cinder and Joyce, cold snow filling up my shoes.

* * *

 **OH ho ho~ so now we know who the red, dark blue, and purple soul belong to. But who are the others, I wonder? :3**

 **Thx once again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! ~Pizza**


	12. Blue Jacket

Joyce and Cinder were already pretty far away, so I decided to walk. There wasn't any need to run if I wasn't going to be able to catch up to them anyway.

I trudged along in the cold snow and sniffled. It really was freezing, and my pants were already soaking. I felt a chill race down my spine, and I tried to distract my thoughts. So I chose to rethink about the events that had just occurred.

Right now, the two believed me to be a yellow soul, one of justice. Attempting to change their minds would do me no good, and telling them my soul was red would just earn me some laughs of mockery. Maybe it was just better to let them believe what they want. Heck, I might as well just start telling everyone that I'm a yellow soul. It's not like it matters, and it's not like they care anyways.

I was so busy thinking that I didn't notice the figure beside me until they started to speak. "Hey kid, what's buggin' ya?" I quickly swerved my head around, and sighed in relief when I realized it was just Sans. No telling how he got there so quick, and he was just chill as usual. Oh… chill as in cold. maybe that would make a good pun?...

"Just thinking." I shivered as I stepped into another deep pile of snow. Grumbling, I continued and tried to watch my step more carefully. Then, suddenly curious as to how Sans took his bearings, I looked over at his slippered feet and found him walking right on top of the snow. He wasn't sinking in or floating, just… standing on there. Like he was weightless.

Sans noticed my expression and traced my gaze down to his feet. He let out a small chuckle when he realized what I was staring out. "Heh… is the snow botherin' ya, kid?"

I frowned before shrugging and continuing to trudge on. "It isn't exactly cold from where I come from…" I stated simply, then reassured him quickly, "But it's fine. I can manage it." As if trying to contradict my statement, an even harsher wind blew my hair into my face. I gripped my backpack straps tighter.

For a while, there was silence between us. I tried to lighten the mood. "However, you don't seem very cold…" I paused. "Quite _chill_ , in fact." It was a bad pun, and I knew it, especially since it was actually coming out my mouth.

So I was surprised when I heard a slight chuckle come from the skeleton. It made me feel warm. He was also muttering something under his breath, though I couldn't hear what he was saying. I wondered what that was about. Then there was suddenly a resigned sigh from Sans, and I felt something weighing on my back. Confused, I stared at it and noticed it was blue and puffy. It was San's jacket.

Surprised, I held onto the jacket and turned to Sans. I had to admit, seeing Sans without a jacket really was new to me. When he was just in his white T-shirt, he seemed a lot more open and vulnerable. Not to mention cold. However, he seemed unbothered as he continued to walk onwards.

"H-hey!" I hurried after him since he was getting ahead. "Are you lending this to me?"

Sans finally stopped and turned around. "Why else would I give it to you?"

Gee, he sure made me feel stupid. "Won't you be cold?" I insisted.

Sans just shrugged his cool guy shrug. "Kid, you look like a _pup_ -sicle. I think you need it more than I do." Then he continued to walk forwards. I laughed lightly at his pun, which was way better than mine, but frowned at his reasoning. Eventually, I sighed in defeat and acceptance of the jacket. It was true though, I would need as much warmth as I could get. Sliding my backpack off, I put on Sans' fur-lined hoodie over my sweater. It was warm and smelled faintly of ketchup, but I didn't mind. What mattered was that it kept out the cold. Comfortable, I turned to thank Sans for the jacket, but he was already gone.

Gee, with him constantly appearing and disappearing, I'm not sure how often I'll even be able to communicate with him. Honestly, the longest length of time I've spent with him so far is… what? Ten minutes? Head shaking, I continued forward, wondering just how much longer I'd have to walk before reaching Snowdin. At least the jacket was taking effect, as I was feeling a lot less freezing. Thank goodness for that.

Ahead, I saw two figures. Was it possible that I had caught up to Cinder and Joyce? Feeling hopeful, I ran forward, trying not to trip from clumsiness. I was met with a strange scene.

Little white snowflakes flew from out of the sky, but only in that area, and colorful presents were being launched from a Gyftrot, who huffed angrily at Joyce. She was leaping to and fro from three long purplish stems that seemed to be thin logs. So that's what she meant by leaping between purple lines of whatever material was close by. Her purple soul was present as well, and glowing vibrantly. Meanwhile, Cinder was jumping around gracefully with her dark blue soul, and yelling something at Joyce.

"You're supposed to _un_ decorate it, not the other way around!" Cinder shouted as she avoided another near collision with a large present box.

"But he looks so adorable with decorations!" Joyce insisted, then paused before adding, "And snow!" She then dropped a snowball from one of her log stems, and it landed squarely on Gyftrot's head. He snorted angrily and sent more snowflakes down on her, but she just simply leaped away onto a different log stem.

"I thought you knew how play Undertale! To beat this thing, you have to…" Cinder's statement came to a pause when she finally noticed me. She waved heartily to me as she leaped over another present box. "Hi Frisk! You finally caught up!"

"Huh?" Momentarily distracted, Joyce turned around to face me, and her eyes quickly widened in shock. That was… unsuspecting. I frowned at her expression and wondered why she looked like that. Did I do something wrong? "Wait. Is that-" She was suddenly cut off as a snowflake bonked her straight in the head, and I could swear I heard Gyftrot snort in success. Payback sure was sweet, I knew that firsthand.

Now with Joyce temporarily disabled, Cinder lept forward to take decorations off of Gyftrot. She flung aside some ornaments before the deer snorted at her, and then she jumped back. It looked like she would have to undecorate him a couple more times. She went back to dodging presents as Joyce continued to stare at me in shock.

"Um…" I pointed above her in warning. "Snowflakes?" Joyce finally seemed to snap out of it, and managed to leap onto a different log before the snowflake could collide into her. She growled before joining in with Cinder's spree to undecorate the deer. Gyftrot seemed to appreciate the change of heart, but I was suspicious. Why was Joyce suddenly so eager to help in the efforts of defeating Gyftrot?

With the two working together, getting rid of the decorations was easy. After Cinder announced they wouldn't fight, Gyftrot gave a final snort before trotting away. The souls returned to their owners, and Cinder headed forward to collect the G reward that the deer had left behind. However, Joyce did not look as eager as to sharing the prize. She was more focused on me.

" _How did you get that?_ " It was a question that demanded an answer. Confused, I looked down and suddenly remembered the blue jacket. It was still keeping me warm. But uh… why was Joyce so angry?

"I got it from Sans?..." Unfortunately, I had said it in more of a question than a statement. Now Joyce looked even more suspicious, though for what reasons, I didn't know.

"I _know_ you got it from Sans!" Joyce huffed angrily, tromping forward and pointing an accusing finger at me. I found myself taking a few steps back for my own safety. "But _how_ did you get it?"

"Ah… I-"

"I've been trying to get at it forever!" Joyce didn't give me a single moment to respond to her rapid-fire questions. "I've pleaded, joked, tried to be nice about it, and even pretended to be _freezing_! But he doesn't bat an eye!" Wow, she really was desperate. Why the heck did she want the jacket so bad anyway? "Now you… _you_ got the jacket. _How_? What evil treachery did you use to convince him to give it to you? Wait, did you _steal_ it? Did you-"

"Hold on there!" It was my turn to interrupt her now. I had to defend my pride before it shattered to pieces from her meaningless bombardment. "First off, Sans never takes off his jacket, which means I couldn't have stolen it without being in his presence. And secondly, I didn't do any _weird_ stuff. He just gave it to me." I noticed that Cinder was starting to return from picking out her rewards, although she seemed skeptical at the exchange I was having with Joyce.

"He just _gave it to you_?" Joyce asked, still unbelieving.

"Well…" I thought it over. "I guess we did crack some puns, and we did say something about being cold?..." Screw me for my short-term memory.

Joyce was red in the face, and her fists were clenched. In fact, she looked ready to explode. "You made jokes with _my_ Sans, and he gave you _his_ jacket?"

"Um… sorry?"

" _UGGHHHH!_ " Joyce flung her arms up into the air and ran straight past Cinder, who was giving us confused looks. "I'm gonna find Sans and _knock the answer out of him_!" Joyce continued to run towards Snowdin, and soon, she was out of sight. Who knew she could run so fast?

Cinder took one look at the jacket I was wearing, and I knew she could tell what the argument had been about. "So… how _did_ you get ahold of Sans' jacket?"

"He just gave it to me!" I repeated, a little annoyed. Why wouldn't anyone just believe in me for once? I huffed before heading towards the direction of Snowdin as well, with Cinder matching me stride for stride.

"Hm… definitely a justice soul." Cinder cracked a smile, much to my annoyance. "And it's not that I don't trust in your answer. It's just that it's hard to believe Sans would ever take off his jacket to give to someone else. Because, like you said… Sans never takes off his jacket."

I huffed when I realized she was right. "Apparently, I'm an exception."

"That's what Joyce is angry about." Cinder shrugged, then eyed her pocket warily. "She ran off so fast, I didn't have enough time to give her her proper share of the reward."

"Don't worry, she probably forgot all about it." I reassured her. "And it wasn't like she contributed much to the battle anyway." I thought back to her throwing snowballs at Gyftrot, and couldn't help chuckling.

"But still!" Cinder insisted. "It would be unhonest to take the whole reward for myself. I'll give her the share she deserves as soon as I can."

I smirked. "Definitely an integrity soul."

Cinder shot me a look before giving me a friendly nudge. "Hey, if Sans really did give you the jacket, where is he now?"

I sighed a little sadly before responding. "Left before I could even thank him. I wonder why he's disappearing all the time?..."

"He probably just doesn't want to stay around Joyce." I heard truth in her words, but it also felt like there was something else she wasn't telling me. I shook the thought away. She was an integrity soul, so I would doubt any possibility of her telling a lie.

After crossing the long unsteady bridge, we were finally back in Snowdin. The two of us quickly headed to the skeleton household, wondering how Joyce's search was going along. After walking up the white steps and creaking open the front door, we were in.

Immediately, we could hear loud screaming and thunking noises upstairs. I had no idea what that was about, but it certainly sounded as if Joyce was having a tantrum. Confused, I headed to the kitchen with Cinder to find Papyrus stirring something in a pot.

"Hi Papyrus!" There was no doubt a tone of adoration in Cinder's voice.

"AH!" Papyrus continued his extremely rapid stirring, but turned around to face us. "WELCOME BACK, HUMAN!"

"Papyrus?" I asked, unsure. "What is Joyce doing?"

"WELL YOU SEE," Papyrus finally stopped stirring, to my relief. I was afraid noodles would start flinging onto the walls if he didn't. "ONCE I HAD TOLD THEM THAT MY LAZY BROTHER WAS SLEEPING IN HIS ROOM, SHE CHARGED UP THERE TO WAKE HIM UP!"

The shouting and thunking continued above us. "I see."

"WHILE SANS IS SLEEPING, I HAVE BEEN PREPARING A TERRIFIC SPAGHETTI DISH!" Papyrus struck a heroic pose. "IT IS YET TO BE FINISHED! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Can I accompany you?" Cinder asked, with a hopeful gleam in her eye.

"WHY, OF COURSE!" Cinder looked delighted as she joined him next to the stove.

I shrugged and waved at them dismissively. "I'll go check up on Joyce." Leaving the two to be together alone, I headed upstairs to see how Joyce was faring.

"SANS! _We need to talk!_ " Well, Joyce still seemed angry. But maybe that's an understatement. Still wearing Sans' jacket, I headed over to her.

"So, what's up?"

Joyce turned to me in a furious manner. " _He won't open the door!_ " I could tell she was having a hard time trying to look away from the jacket.

"It's locked?" I eyed the door knob curiously. In the game it was locked as well, so at least that made sense.

"It is! But it won't be anymore if he just _came over and unlocked it!_ "

"Maybe he's sleeping." I wasn't sure why I was defending him. "I'm pretty sure he's _bone-tired_ after today." I somehow managed a mischievous grin. I was starting to turn more like Sans every day.

Joyce looked pretty annoyed and upset at the same time, and I figured that was a bad mix of emotions for someone like her. " _I don't have time for this_!" She started to ignore me as she turned back to the door to Sans' room. "OPEN UP SANS! _I know you're in there!_ "

Uh… maybe it was best if I left. All this racket was making me a little sick. Making my way down the stairs, I found my feet leading me to the couch. Slipping off the backpack, but keeping Sans' jacket on, I flopped on in a lazy manner. If sleeping on Papyrus' bed was going to earn me glares from Cinder, then the couch would just have to do.

For a while, I just sat there staring up at the ceiling. I tried my best to ignore the clanking noises from the kitchen and the romping from upstairs. I closed my eyes and just thought. It sure was nice to actually be in Undertale… to meet the skeleton brothers, to enjoy it with my friends, and to have it be for _real_ …

I couldn't help cracking a smile, filled with determination.

* * *

 **(P.S. Just finished my CM Piano Testing. :3 I hope I passed!)**

 **And here is a new chapter for ya'll. Hope you like! :D ~Pizza**


	13. Grillby's

I skipped around the area, trying not to get my shoes wet, and catching up with everyone around town. The bunny was still walking her little brother, the store was still open for some talk, and the library was always available as well. In the end, I found myself reading there, and enjoying the many books that it had to offer. They were mainly about the history of the monsters, and how the souls of both kinds basically worked, but I didn't mind. Reading was kinda my thing, so just having something to read was good enough for me.

While I was in the middle of an interesting book about snails, I felt a presence shift next to me. Curious, I looked up from my book to see the face of a familiar skeleton. "Hey kid."

I jumped a little at his sudden appearance. " _Sans_?" He chuckled at my reaction, but I quickly got over it. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" I teased.

"Got tired of it." He shrugged like it didn't matter, " _Bone_ -tired." I couldn't help smiling at that pun. Then, I suddenly noticed that he was still in his bare T-shirt, and it made me remember how I was still wearing his jacket.

Feeling guilty, I started to unzip the jacket. "Oh yeah, I should probably give this ba-"

Sans stopped me. "It's okay kiddo. You can keep it 'till you decide to leave Snowdin." I blinked at him gratefully, before returning my gaze to the snail book. "Say, whatcha readin' there?"

"72 Uses for Snails." I frowned. "It sounds familiar, but I can't quite place where I had heard it from before…"

Sans shrugged. "Hey, I'm going to Grillby's. Wanna come?"

I was slightly startled by his sudden request, but I wasn't sure how to answer. "Isn't Papyrus making spaghetti tonight?"

"Well…He does spaghetti every night," Sans shrugged. "But I'm sure he won't mind if you take a break off for one night." He started to get up.

"Well, I guess…" I was still unsure, but at least my mind was set. I returned the snail book to the shelves before following Sans to the door.

"Over here." He stated mischievously. "I know a shortcut." Uh-oh. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next. Yet despite that, I still followed him out the door. I expected snow underfoot and a harsh wind blowing by.

But I suddenly felt a dizzy feeling, and in the next moment, I was standing in a large, orange room. Small candles were lit on the walls, and there were brown tables and a counter ahead. It was warm and a comfortable, with a muffy scent was in the air. Looking around, I found all my dog friends and a couple others that were present as well. Apparently, we were already at Grillby's. I wondered how many others had come to Grillby with Sans, and if they had experienced this sudden teleportation.

"Fast shortcut, huh?" Sans winked knowingly at my expression before turning to the others that were in the room. "hey, everyone."

"Hey Sans." Dogamy responded first. "Hi, Sans." That's Dogaressa.

"Greetings, Sans." That was the venus fly-trap guy with sharp teeth. Totally not menacing.

"Hiya, Sansy~" The drunk bunny mumbled drowsily.

"Hey Sans," Now the fish-chicken thing was talking. "Weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?" What?... it's dinnertime already…

"Nah," Sans denied, "I haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour." I couldn't help expressing an asian face at that. Sans winked in good humor before suggesting, "You must be thinking of brunch." A distant drum beat in the distance, and those who Sans had talked to laughed giddily. And although I enjoyed Sans' puns greatly… I had to admit that that pun just didn't make any sense. If it was even a pun in the first place.

"Here, get comfy." Sans invited me, settling himself into a chair. I followed suit, making sure there were no whoopee cushions to get the best of me.

I sighed in relaxation. "Maybe it _was_ a good idea to skip out on Papyrus' meal."

"Anyway," Sans moved on briskly, "Let's order. Whaddya want…?" Based on the game, I knew I either had to order a burger or fries.

"Um…" I didn't want to spend too much time thinking, so I chose to make my decision quickly. "Burgers." That would probably be the more filling option.

"Hey, that sounds pretty good. Grillby, we'll have a double order of burg." I couldn't help mouthing the word _burg_ as Grillby gave us a slight nod before heading off to retrieve the order. Meanwhile, we waited.

"So, what do you think…" I could tell Sans wanted to say something, but it was like he was holding back. After a moment of silence, he decided on talking about something else. "Of my brother?"

"Cool." I answered immediately, and without hesitation. I hoped I didn't sound too much like Cinder. I wondered if Sans even knew that Cinder liked Papyrus.

"Of course he's cool. You'd be cool too if you wore that outfit everyday." Well, with no other available clothes in the underground, I just might have to do that. Except… Sans' jacket. I felt myself slightly blushing, but Sans plowed on, not noticing anything. "He'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. Oh well. At least he washes it. And by that, I mean he wears it in the shower."

"You guys have a _shower_?" I almost leaped with anticipation. I was so dirty and grimy, a shower was something I definitely needed to take.

Before Sans could respond to my outburst though, Grillby was already coming back with the burgers. They looked rather plain, since it was just some meat sandwiched between two buns. There wasn't much else, no tomatoes or cheese or nothin'. "Here comes the grub." Sans concluded dismissively, "Want some ketchup?"

I thought about it. I wasn't a really big fan of ketchup, but if I remembered correctly, Sans was. Maybe I should just leave it for him.

"Nah, no thanks." I responded, picking up a burger and taking a huge bite out of it. "I don't really like ketchup."

Sans winked. "More for me." He looked at Grillby, and Grillby returned the confused look. Then a look of disbelief crossed Sans' face. "You're kidding me…" I blinked confusedly at them before I realized what was going on.

Oh gee, this had never happened in the game before. Did Grillby really have no ketchup left, even for Sans? That was a problem, but it was one I could easily solve. I reached for my backpack and searched the stuff inside, looking for the prize.

Sans was giving me a confused look. "Just a sec." I told him. A moment later, I had a ketchup bottle in hand, and I passed it on to Sans. He just gave me a look of pure surprise, maybe even a little bit of shock. Maybe… just one bottle wasn't going to cut it.

"Not enough?" I asked, reaching back into my backpack. It was a good thing I took quite a few from that sentry station earlier. "That's okay, I've got more." I pulled out two more bottles, one in each hand. Now Sans looked completely befuddled, and Grillby continued to stay expressionless, although I could tell he was amused.

The look on Sans' face was priceless. I really needed Alphys' camera now, and forever. Or maybe I could ask her to install a camera onto the phone Toriel gave me… oh wait. She never gave me one. I mentally slapped myself.

"H-how did-"

"I knew you had a liking for ketchup, so I took a few in case." I grinned knowingly.

Sans shook his head. "What I mean is, how did you know I liked ketchup?" I returned his questioning gaze with an empty look, and realized that I wasn't supposed to know yet. The reason I did know was because I had played the game already.

I slightly turned away as I placed the ketchup bottles on the counter. "Joyce told me?..." It came out as more of a question than a statement, really.

Sans still didn't look like he believed me, but he gorged down the ketchup nonetheless. In a mere three seconds, the bottle was empty. I wasn't even sure if I had seen correctly. Did he even _open_ his mouth? I hadn't been paying attention very well, and now I was wishing I had.

"Anyway, cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries real hard." I was glad Sans had changed the subject, since I wasn't keen on answering questions that would reveal my knowledge of the game itself. "Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard…" I let Sans babble away as I reorganized my own thoughts. I had already heard this dialogue before, so there was no use listening to it again. I nodded my head at certain times to make it look like I was listening, but really I was just spacing out.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something." The sudden seriousness in Sans' voice dragged my attention away from my daydreams.

"Hm?" Suddenly, everyone around us started to slow down and the room turned darker, as if Sans and I were the most concentrated objects in the room. I stared around curiously, but Sans was still focused on me.

He leaned in closer, and spoke in a hushed whisper. "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

Oh, it was this talk. I decided to go simple. "Yes." Flowey was a talking flower.

"So you know all about it. The _echo flower._ " Well… that wasn't what I had on mind, but I suppose that works as well. "They're all over the marsh. Say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over… what about it?"

"I already knew that." Sans gave me a funny look, and I realized that I had let yet another thought slip. I technically hadn't headed to the Waterfall yet, so I wasn't supposed to know about that. Screw me and my mouth.

Either way, Sans continued. "Well, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day." I couldn't help wondering when that was. Cinder and Joyce were constantly with them, so I was surprised the bros were even able to get any time alone at all. "Sometimes, when no one else is around… a flower appears and whispers things to him." I nodded gravely in total understanding. "Flattery… advice… encouragement… predictions. Weird, huh? Someone must be using an echo flower to play a trick on him."

"No, it's Flowey."

Sans gave me a look of utter confusion. "Flowey?"

Uh-oh. It suddenly struck me how warning Sans about Flowey could affect the ending of the Pacifist Route. If I told him about Flowey, would the flower still show up once everyone joined for the reunion at the end? Would Papyrus have even continued listening to the flower if he knew it was dangerous? Would Sans actually find it and obliterate it before it could even say more to Papyrus?

Ah… I was thinking too far. But maybe it would be best if I didn't say anything about it.

"Uh… nevermind."

Sans gave me a hard look, which showed that he didn't completely believe me. I obviously wasn't a very good liar. "Well, keep an eye out, ok? Thanks." I nodded, and immediately everyone around us started moving around like normal. It was like our personal, quiet talk had never occurred. I couldn't help sighing in relief at the return to normalcy.

Sans finally got off his chair, even though his burger was untouched. Looking at my burger, I realized that it only had one bite in it. Oops. I quickly started scarfing it down. "Welp, that was a long break. Oh, by the way…" Sans gave me a mischievous look. "I'm flat broke. Can you foot the bill? It's just 10,000 G."

 _Just_ 10,000 G? I knew this was a joke, but I still couldn't help feeling a little offended. Even still, I tried to hide it. "You're flat broke? You don't look flat to me. Or broken."

"Just kidding." Sans gave me an amused look. Probably because my statement turned out so weird. "Grillby, put it on my tab." He started to make his way to leave, and I waited for him to do so, just like the game.

So I was surprised when he stopped and turned around. "You coming?"

For a moment, I didn't know what to say. Then my brain went back to work, and I hopped off my chair before following him out Grillby's. This was definitely different from the game.

Once we were outside, we started heading back to the skeleton household. Never have I ever been so glad for Sans' jacket. It was warm like a fluffy puppy… but maybe that's the wrong analogy to use.

"Say, kiddo…" Sans said, making me jump out of my warm thoughts. "Cinder really likes Papyrus, doesn't she?"

Oh… that was really out of the blue. Apparently, Sans _did_ know who Cinder liked. But why was he going into this now? Maybe it's because he feels protective over his brother. After some thought, I decided to stick with the simple truth. "Yep." I hoped Sans didn't disapprove.

He shrugged. "And it's obvious who Joyce likes." I slightly snickered at that, and Sans grinned in good humor. "So, I guess what I'm askin' is… who do _you_ like?"

Well… that question certainly caught me off guard. I stared at him for a couple of moments before looking away and staring ahead at the snow to contemplate my thoughts. Who _did_ I like? I had a couple of crushes in school before, but they were all faded away now. Lately, I haven't been feeling anything particularly strong towards anyone. So I guess the answer would be… no?

Before I could tell Sans my answer, we had stopped. Looking to the side, I realized we were already at our destination. The skeleton household loomed cheerfully before us. Sans made his way to the door, and I followed him. When he was right next to the door, he stopped. I waited for him to reach for the doorknob or knock, but he did neither. He just stood there.

Gee, this was getting awkward. I was about to ask him what he was doing before he turned around. I stayed still. He then suddenly leaned in close, and whispered next to my ear.

"By the way…" I could feel his breath on my cheek, "I was going to say something, but I forgot." Before I could ask him for clarification, the front door burst open on its own, and a moody Joyce stood at the doorway.

"Where have you been?!" She demanded for answers, looking stern.

I blinked at her for a few moments before answering. "I went to Grillby's with Sans-" I turned around to point him out to her, but he was already gone.

* * *

 **Do any of you guys even read these messages I give to you at the end? -_-**

 **Anyhows, since no one is giving me any alternate ending ideas, I'll do some myself! :D**

 **Thx again for reading and I hope you have a nice day! :P ~Pizza**


	14. Eggs

The three of us, Cinder, Papyrus, and I were working in the kitchen to prepare breakfast. According to Papyrus, we would be making "spaghetti pancakes". He described them as a great delicacy that only the likes of the Great Papyrus could achieve. Since I had never done it before, I wasn't sure what to expect or how the procedures progressed.

Apparently, Papyrus didn't know what he was doing. So in the end, Cinder and I took over. We instructed Papyrus to just make the spaghetti while we prepared the batter. My job was to get and deposit the ingredients, and Cinder was to stir the mixture and tell me what to add. Surprisingly, we were able to scrap up the necessary ingredients, even though Papyrus mainly had spaghetti ingredients. (I was actually surprised we were even able to find the eggs)

Then, Sans strode into the kitchen, with Joyce right on his tail. He looked amused to see me and Cinder in the kitchen."'Sup kid?"

"Pancakes." I informed him as I cracked an egg into the mixing bowl. "Spaghetti pancakes, to be more exact."

"Heh." Sans grinned as he watched me, "I bet it'll taste _egg-stremely_ good." I smiled.

"WHY OF COURSE IT WILL-" Suddenly Papyrus paused from his noodle making and turned to give Sans a suspicious stare. "WAIT. WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"He said it would be _egg-stremely_ good." Joyce repeated for him.

"Yes!" I chimed in. "It'll be _eggs-traordinary_!"

"I SEE! THEN- WAIT." Now Papyrus was eyeing me with his suspicious glances.

"Heh, kid…" Sans grinned even wider. "That cracked me up." Then Joyce and I started to crack up as Cinder continued to work, attempting to ignore us. I could tell she was smiling though.

"That pun…" I laughed lightly before pulling up a thumbs-up, "Was _egg-cellent_."

"AGH!" Papyrus shouted disbelievingly, while tossing a spoon into the air. "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

"Bro, I think you meant… _un-egg-ceptable_."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!"

"Sans, I think you should go." Cinder gave him a no-nonsense look. "You're causing quite a disruption here. Why not go and… you know. Get some _egg-sercise_?" Cinder couldn't help it, and the two of us were laughing like idiots.

"Welp. I see I'm not needed here." Sans started to leave the kitchen, but then grinned mischievously. "I'll be making my _egg-sit_ now." I continued to chuckle with Cinder.

"SANS! THAT WAS TERRIBLE!"

Sans gave us all a departing wink. " _Egg-sactly_."

As Papyrus groaned angrily, Sans left with Joyce hot on his tail. Smiling and shaking my head, I cracked the last of the eggs into the mixing bowl. It was time to stir.

* * *

The pancakes were done. They had turned out better than I expected, although I had to admit that a few of them were burnt. Other than that, they were pretty impressive-looking.

I had been given the honors to present the meal to the table. At first I thought it would've just been the three of us, so I was surprised when I saw Joyce sitting at the table and waiting for us. I thought she had left with Sans, but apparently not. Smiling, I set the dish down and set up the table preparations.

"Well! Aren't you all _egg-cited_?" I couldn't help winking, and Cinder laughed with me. However, Joyce remained unmoving and looked deep in thought. I decided not to disrupt her. Eventually, all preparations were finished, and the four of us feasted.

In the middle of the meal, Joyce poked me in the shoulder. "Hey, Frisk." She waited for me to respond.

"What?" I mumbled over a mouthful of spaghetti pancakes.

She cupped her hand next to my ear and whispered quietly. "After this, meet me at the spot where you fought Papyrus. Tell no one else." Before I could ask her why, she had already gotten up and dismissed herself from the table.

Having no other choice, I decided to play by Joyce's demands. When Papyrus asked me where I was headed, I just told him I wanted to go on a walk. He quickly nodded, and resumed his conversation with Cinder. I could tell he was really starting to warm up around her, and that was good.

I left the skeleton household and wondered where Sans was. Maybe he was chillin' at Grillby's. Shrugging and zipping up his blue jacket, I headed to the east side of Snowdin. That was where I had fought Papyrus. I wondered why Joyce wanted us to meet in private, and what she wanted to talk about. Was it something extremely important? If it was, why hadn't she invited Cinder to come along as well? This seemed strange, but I didn't feel like questioning it. What was there to worry about?

I finally reached my destination. At first, there didn't seem to be anyone present, but then I found Joyce. She was standing in the wide open area where Papyrus would usually stand, and she glared at me. I didn't know how to react, so I just blinked back confusedly.

"Hmph. For a moment, I thought you wouldn't be coming. But apparently not."

"Uh, Joyce?" Why in the heck was she glaring at me? "What did you call me here for? Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, definitely." This didn't sound like Joyce at all. She was usually more obnoxious. I suddenly noticed something glimmer from under Joyce's sleeve.

"What's that in your sleeve?..." I asked curiously, pointing to show what I was referring to.

"Oh. This?" Joyce grinned, and I felt myself gasping at her expression. The smile was twisted, the grin had a touch of _evil_ to it, and the eyes… they were _red_.

Joyce's eyes definitely weren't red.

"J-Joyce?" I felt myself backing away, but before I could take another step, my soul was drawn out. I felt myself gasp with surprise. Had I just entered a battle?

"Oh? So your soul is red? How interesting. That will just make this more fun for the both of us." She grinned maliciously, and I flinched. What in the world was happening?

I gasped. "Are you holding-"

"This is a knife." Joyce's soul was out as well, and the both of us started to float towards the air. Long, purple bars appeared from under her, and she latched onto one of them. "It's just a toy knife, sadly, but I suppose it'll have to do."

I felt my eyes widening. " _You_ took the knife?" This was bad, _really_ bad. I tried to flee, but the soul didn't move at my commands to run away. Was this like Pokemon? Where you couldn't run from a trainer's battle, I'm guessing. But in Undertale, it wasn't as if you ever had to battle another player.

Joyce stared at me disinterestedly as she played with the knife in her hand. She looked really scary at the moment. "Why, yes. But less talk, more fight."

"Less talk?-" The bars from under Joyce suddenly advanced towards me, and I barely moved away in time as she took a swing at me. The blade passed close by my face, and I growled as I flew away in another direction. What was Joyce doing? Was she _fighting_ me?

"You're fighting me, aren't you?"

"Idiot. What does it look like?" She grinned as she charged towards me again, standing on her flying bars. I moved aside, but then Joyce struck with lightning-quick accuracy, and felt a few of my hairs getting cut off. I tried veering towards another direction, but then Joyce swung her leg out. That wasn't what I expected, and I got a good kick in the stomach. Doubling over, I drifted far away and stared at Joyce's eyes. They were still red, and now they glowed more brightly than ever. "We'll fight until your _death_."

My face must've been disbelieving, because Joyce suddenly let out a laugh. But it was more like a high-screeched giggle, echoing around the emptiness around us. So that was why Joyce called me here, then there would be no one to rescue me. Growling under my breath, I flew to a nearby tree and tugged off a branch. I wasn't going to fight with it, just use it as a defense.

"Why are we fighting?" I yelled at her. Maybe I could get some common sense out of her.

"You don't think I see how you act around him?" Joyce yelled accusingly, shooting towards me again. She swiped the knife, and I moved under her, avoiding the floating purple bars. But that was a mistake, as she suddenly moved down towards me. I attempted to escape from between the bars, but in doing so, Joyce swung the knife and managed to get a scratch on my arm. I felt the stinging, and was positive that my health was draining.

"Around who?" I huffed, trying to catch my breath.

But of course, she ignored my question. "You don't think I see you cuddling and smiling your filthy tricks on him?" She swung her knife again, and I barely moved aside in time.

"Uh… who are you talking about again?" I ducked from a swipe, but didn't head under her bars. I already learned from my previous mistakes, but now I was left vulnerable to her kicks. Joyce leaped and attempted to kick me, but I brought the branch out in front of me. She hit the branch instead of me, and it snapped upon contact. I ditched the stick, and Joyce floated back down to her purple bars.

"Don't pretend you don't know!" Joyce rushed forward at me again, and I growled. I had no idea who she was talking about, and her attitude was making me sick. Annoyed, I approached her head on.

Joyce seemed surprised at my sudden tactic change, but I was more than welcome to the fight. When she came up, I flew onto one of her bars. She swung her knife, and I dodged it before attempting to swing my arm at her head. She ducked and attempted a low kick, but I was up in the air again. She growled as I jumped onto her head.

"Oopsies." I grinned as I leaped off onto another one of her bars. All that practice that I had in the Ruins were going to seriously help me in this situation. Without waiting, this time I charged first. Joyce looked scared for a moment before swinging her knife.

I dodged it and felt it pass by my ear, but now I was right up to Joyce's face. With a quick movement, I brought my fist up to her. The impact was instant, and she lost her balance for a split second before leaping onto another one of her bars. Somehow, she was still awake and moving, and she didn't seem as damaged. I wondered how she was lasting so well. I flew over to her and attempted a swing with my leg, but she moved to the side and tried to aim the knife at it. But her aim was really off, and I literally went right over it as I kicked her, _hard_. I wasn't really sure where I had hit her, but it seemed to have the effect I needed. Joyce stumbled back and fell off her bar before plummeting to the ground.

I flew down to catch her before settling her onto the snow. "I don't want to fight." I stated simply. And then, as quickly as the battle started, it ended. The souls returned to our bodies, and all that was left was me and a beat-up Joyce. Her eyes were closed, but she was still trembling, which showed she was awake. I huffed before turning around to leave. I was going to head back to the skeleton household now, and probably get some information off of Cinder. Maybe she could explain to me what was going on.

A few steps later, I stopped and realized something. The way that I had just dodged, attacked, and outmaneuvered Joyce was incredible. I had no idea how I had done it. I stared at my hands as I realized my accomplishment, and I felt myself bursting with pride. Just before entering Mt. Ebbot, I had been a weak kid that could barely do ten push-ups or climb a tree. But now… I was stronger. Better, faster, smarter. And not to mention, more determined. At this rate, I could-

I suddenly felt something leap onto my back, and I fell face first into the icy cold. I tried to get up, but the figure on me was holding all parts of me down. But who was holding me down? Trying not to eat snow, I slightly turned my head to find Joyce, awake once again. She was onto me and keeping me down, and raised the toy knife high above her head. It took me a moment to realize what she was doing.

"This is what happens when you don't watch your back." She cackled.

I quickly tried to think of something to say, to distract her. "I still don't get who you were referring to." Joyce gave me an amused face. "Like, the person you kept talking about during the whole fight?" Joyce gave me a look of pure disbelief, but the blank look on my face must've convinced her, as she started to explain.

"You really don't know?" She sneered, "Well then let me tell you. I'm talking about _Sans_."

"W-wha?"

"Yes, Sans, the skeleton. You know him. Stop pretending. I've seen the way you two look at each other. It makes me sick!" Her hold on me was starting to loosen. This could be my chance… but I'll wait a little longer, just in case. "The way you two converse like it's _no big deal_. The way he looks at you, the way he just _gave_ you his jacket like it was _nothing_ to worry about. They way he-"

 _Now._ The grip on me had loosened quite a bit, as Joyce was so busy talking. I harshly kneed her in the stomach before flipping her over so that I was on top of her. While she stayed shocked, I snatched the knife straight out of her hand. There, problem solved. Now she can't threaten me anymore. I twirled the knife in my hand as I smiled at her.

"So. Who's in control now, hm?" I couldn't help teasing her a bit, as she had done quite a bit to me in the last few minutes. That couldn't be easily forgiven. "In fact… maybe now it's time to _egg-secute_ , hm?" Joyce struggled under my grasp, but I wasn't going to let go of her so easily. But I wasn't going to use the knife either, I was just keeping it away from her. Finding no use for it, I was about to toss it away. But something beat me to it.

Something yellow flashed by my hand, and it was so quick I could barely tell what it was. Surprised, my hand slipped and the knife fell onto the snow. My hold on Joyce had loosened as well, and I expected her to lunge for the knife, but she didn't. Wary, I slowly got up and started to back away, but then a voice rang into the clearing. For a moment, I thought it was Sans, but then further inspection told me the voice was coming from the direction of the Waterfall.

"Unhand her, you _murderer_!"

* * *

 **And now presenting... the alternate ending! Suggested by myself: Sadistic (and slightly Yandere) Frisk!**

* * *

 _Now._ The grip on me had loosened quite a bit, as Joyce was so busy talking about " _her_ " Sans. I harshly kneed her in the abdomen before flipping her over so that I was on top of her. Digging my knee into her stomach, I snatched the knife straight out of her hand. There, problem solved, and she couldn't threaten me anymore. Now the tables were turned, and it was _my_ turn to play now.

"So. Who's in control now, _hm_?" I couldn't help teasing her a bit, 'cause she deserved it. Revenge really was sweet. I twirled the knife in my hand as I grinned down at her sadistically. "In fact… maybe now it's time to _egg-secute_ , hm?" Joyce struggled under my grasp, but I wasn't going to let go of her so easily.

But should I use the knife? It was just a toy after all, and it couldn't hurt that much now, could it? I suddenly remembered how she had been treating me just moments ago, with her knife raised above me. Maybe I should keep it around with me, for now. I held Joyce down and brought the knife up to her throat threateningly.

" _This_ is what happens when you lose your attention on me." I snarled, digging it up into her skin a little bit. I could hear her croaking desperately, and for a moment, I noticed the color of her eyes. They weren't red anymore.

That just made me angrier. _Trying to pull the innocent act with me, huh? Trying to steal Sans from me, huh?_ Wait… steal? Somehow, I found myself bending down close to Joyce's head before I muttered, "Sans is _mine_."

A moment later, I stepped back, and a motionless Joyce laid before me. I had pressed the knife in too hard. I expected myself to feel terrible, but for some reason, I didn't feel so bad. Not even a slightest bit of guilt or regret. Before I could wonder if something was wrong with me, I felt a voice in my head.

 _Move._ Not questioning the order, I leaped to the side just as a bullet suddenly whizzed past me. _Who was that?_ It had come from the Waterfall side, so I had no ideas as to who it was.

"You _murderer_!"

* * *

 **This started out as a fun little chapter (with all those nice egg puns), but somehow plot started to rise, and now we've come to this. -_-**

 **... Even the alternate ending was... agh.**

 **And now we have... 30 followers! _WOOT WOOT!_ Thank you, thank you all! :) ~Pizza**


	15. Justice

**Since the passage below is actually a continuation of the previous alternate ending, I'll just turn this to an alternate beginning. :3**

* * *

A small boy was staring at me, gun pointed threateningly. _Great, another enemy._ His expression was of pure rage and disbelief. He would've actually looked almost scary, but his little cowboy hat gave him away.

 _She deserved it._ "Murderer? I see no murder around here." I twirled the knife around in my hand playfully. There was still a tint of red at the tip of it.

The boy's arms quivered as he continued to aim at me. I knew I could move aside anytime I wanted, so I just stood there and waited. Finally, he began to speak. " _You_ see no murders. But in the eyes of Justice, a crime has been committed. And now… the rights will be arisen!" _There are no rights, there are no wrongs._ Our souls flew out as he continued to babble away. "You will be punished for your sins, in the face of Justice!" _Wrongs and rights, such ridiculousness. There is no justification._

"Ha-ha." I floated in the air, and only paused slightly when I saw him flip upside-down. But that was because I found it slightly amusing. "What is this Justice you speak of?" _Justice doesn't exist on the face of the planet._ "When had I ever received Justice when I needed it?" I immediately went into a fighting pose. If he wanted a fight, I would give him one. And a good one, at that.

The boy, guess I'll just refer to him as Cowboy, snorted. The nerve of him! _Such ignorance cannot be bypassed._ "You want Justice? That's funny." He fingered the trigger. "A _murderer_ like you doesn't deserve _any_ kind of Justice."

That's it. I charged forward through the air, and Cowboy sent his magic bullets at me. They were coming at me too quickly, and a sudden realization struck me. I might not be able to dodge all of them. _You can do it._ Suddenly, a new feeling surged through me. It was a feeling of pride, strength, and determination. In one quick movement, I managed to avoid all the bullets, and I continued to charge on towards my target.

Cowboy looked startled for a moment, but started to back away as he fired more projectiles into my direction. The energy surge came again, and I passed them easily and quickly. _We're getting closer._ I was almost upon him now.

Cowboy looked afraid. The expression on his face was priceless. With one last desperate attempt, he shot one last fire at me. _Pft. Pitiful._

With quickness I never knew I had, I went under the bullet, feeling it slightly graze my ear. Then I was up and next to the Cowboy. I flicked away the gun in his hand, leaving him defenseless. Then I rammed my head into his front, sending him flying through the air. He was definitely at low health now. However, the battle was still going. Leaving no mercy, I shot through the air and flew straight up to his face, grinning sadistically. The fright and horror upon his face only showered on my glee further.

But should I give him the finishing blow? _Do it._ I grinned in agreement.

" _This_ is Justice." The knife went down.

In the next moment, our souls were back in our bodies, and I had floated back to the ground. However, the body of Cowboy had dropped to the ground rather ungracefully, and I wasn't keen on helping him. He would just leave a bloody mess everywhere. Already, the snow around him was staining into a scarlet red. _Nice._

Paying him no mind, I turned around to head back to Snowdin. I had made a clean kill, so nothing was stained but the knife. _You did a good job, and you should be proud of it._ I cleaned the blood off with a few licks. It tasted salty. I then swiftly slid the weapon into my sleeve, hiding it away from prying eyes. Now all evidence was firmly hidden. _And with Justice out of the way, nothing can reveal us._

And who are you exactly? _I am Chara._ _I am so glad you've come here today._ And why is that? B _eing stuck in that other body wasn't as fun as being with you._ Huh, that's funny. But that's okay.

'Cause I feel the same way.

* * *

 **So? How was that Alternate Beginning? How much time did it take you to catch that all the italicized phrases were coming from Chara? :3**

 **I hope I didn't ruin your taste for stories because of that. 'Cause now we're moving on to the real story!**

* * *

Turning around, I saw a boy around James' age. His face expression was a mixture of anger and smugness. He wore a Cowboy Hat upon his head, and held a yellow gun out in front of him. So that yellow thing that flew by was a bullet. I hoped they were kid-friendly.

It also took me a moment to realize that when the boy had spoken, he was referring to _me_ , not Joyce. _Oh…_ he probably thought that, since _I_ was the one carrying the knife just a few seconds ago. I brought my hands up to prove my innocence.

"No one died!" I swore.

"But someone _could've_." The boy marched forward, gun still in hand. "I came just in time too." I backed away as he went over to Joyce and helped her up. "You okay?" Joyce's expression was completely changed now. Her eyes weren't red anymore. Her face showed fear and pain, and I felt bad for her when I realized that _I_ was the one who inflicted those wounds to her.

"S-she did this." Joyce pointed a shaky finger at me. "She did this to me. I was minding my own business when she suddenly leaped onto me. She was ready to kill me with that." She eyed the knife on the ground warily, and I suddenly realized what she was trying to do. She was trying to put the blame on _me_. Yep, I don't feel bad for her anymore.

My eyes widened at the lies. "What? _You're_ the one who told me to come here in the first place!" The boy seriously wouldn't believe in her lies now, would he?

The boy, I guess I'll refer to him as Cowboy for now (due to his hat), gave me a sharp look. He bent down next to the knife and picked it up, examining it. I had no idea what he was trying to look for. He finally set it down and turned to Joyce.

"It's okay. You're safe now." He turned back to me. " _I'll_ deal with her."

"What in the-" I had no idea what was going on. "I didn't do anything!"

Cowboy ignored my protests. "Someone had killed Snowdrake." He stated simply, and I gasped when I remembered Chilldrake's appearance. "A couple of monsters were missing as well, and when I found Doggo, he was extremely injured. I helped bring him to safety." But what does this have to do with anything? "On that day, I swore for Justice to be served. And now, it will." He faced me and pointed the gun straight at me. "Prepare to fight!"

Wait… did he really think that _I_ was the one who killed Snowdrake? The one who murdered other monsters, and even injured Doggo? I wouldn't ever do that. _Never_. But then the other question arose, _who did_?

Before I could protest, explain, or really do _anything_ , my soul was drawn out of my body. That's already the second time today. Growling, I floated into the air and tried to get as far away as possible.

"I'm telling you, it's not me!"

Cowboy's soul flew out of his body as he readied his gun. His soul color was yellow. Justice, the one that I had been mistakened for when I played the Ball Game. "The knife holds all the evidence. You were carrying it when I appeared. You're the guilty one here."

 _Drat!_ Everything had just fallen together perfectly for Joyce! "You're kidding me."

Cowboy smirked. "Justice will be served. _Today!_ " He suddenly flipped upside down in the air, and before I could question it, he had already started firing bullets at me.

I could feel them whizzing past me, and they all moved so quickly I couldn't keep track of all of them. Growling, I tried to fly away, but that only made the bullets pursue me harder. It was a good thing Cowboy's aim wasn't perfect, or else I would've been punctured ten-folds by now.

I stared at Cowboy's upside-down form and noticed how his shirt was falling down and revealing his belly-button. I laughed lightly at this. But even then, I knew it made sense. In the game, the yellow soul was turned upside down, so it would only make sense for him to flip over as well.

"What're _you_ laughing at?" Cowboy seemed offended, and that just made me feel more amused. However, he didn't seem to feel the same, as he continued to fire bullets at me without hesitation. It looked like my only way to stop him was to physically attack him.

I tried moving towards him, but long-range attacks really have their advantages. Whenever I tried getting close to him, he just flew farther away and launched more bullets at me. He was always too far away for me to reach, and I knew I would never be able to physically hit him, as long as I didn't have any long-range attacks as well.

In my efforts of getting close to him, the bullets grazed my skin all over. There were now scratches all over my arms, and there were even a couple on my face. I wasn't used to getting so scratched up. Annoyed and slightly weary, I backed off to give myself some space. I was obviously at low health now, but my backpack wasn't with me. I would need to find some other healing item. My hands immediately flew to my pockets, and they rummaged around, searching for the perfect item.

Then they found it. The farewell-gift Elaine had given me, the bandage. Then something else occurred to me. If there was no way to beat Justice without a long-range weapon, then maybe there would be another option available to me. Still flying in the air, I quickly took the bandage out and prepared to stick it on one of my scratches.

"What are you _doing_?" Cowboy's voice was of annoyance and curiosity, and I would've taken him seriously if it were not for him hanging upside-down.

But I would only have one chance at this, and I would have to make it count. I tried to ignore Cowboy as I took a long breath. Preparations done, I gingerly placed the bandage on one of my scratches. I immediately felt better, and for some reason, other scratches were starting to slowly fade as well. Now _that_ didn't ever happen in real life.

Now my one and only chance. I fled.

And succeeded. My soul went back into my body as I dropped down to the snowy ground. I then started to run as fast as my legs could carry me. I had to get as far away as possible, while I still could.

I heard a scream of outrage behind me that I guessed belonged to Joyce. However, I heard nothing from Cowboy. Maybe he was still wondering how I managed to get away, and in the middle of a fight. But no matter, it just meant all the more time for me.

I sighed a breath of relief at my genius brain for coming up with stuff for whenever I was stuck in a sticky situation. Bandages from the Undertale game allowed a 100% fleeing rate, but only for the first turn. Which meant that if Cowboy caught up with me, I couldn't use this tactic again. But that was okay, since I would make this run count.

Thank goodness for Elaine's farewell present! I would have to thank her for that later. Almost flying over the ground, I allowed my legs to carry me all the way back to Snowdin.

Once in town, I still continued to run. Based on the fact that Cowboy was wearing a Cowboy Hat, it meant that I had a chance. It might be there, if I just hope hard enough. If the person that bought it didn't find a need for it any longer, then I would have a chance.

I ran past confused villagers, and I felt objects whiz past me. Bullets. Cowboy was already catching up to me. This was like that Undyne chase all over again. Then as I ran along, I realized something else. _Drat_ , I was putting the other monsters in danger with bullets flying around everywhere! But there wasn't any other choice for me. Gritting my teeth, I tried not to trip as I made my way next to the shop to find the Box.

I quickly flipped it open and reached my hand in to grab something, the thing I was searching for. When I thought I had found it, I grasped it and started to bring it out. Right then, my soul came out of my body, and I rose back into the air. I was in a fight with Cowboy again. I faced his upside-down form and growled, annoyed.

"You can't run away anymore!" Justice announced, pointing his gun straight at me. "No more running away! Justice will be served _today_!" Uh-huh, keep on talking, and whatever you say won't matter. Because I just got the prized item from the box, a gun. Just give me a minute to let me figure out how this thing works. I pointed and aimed my gun at Cowboy, and as his eyes widened, I tried pulling the trigger. But only after pulling did I remember the name of the gun.

Empty Gun. That meant there were no bullets, which meant I couldn't fire. Cowboy seemed to realize this as well, and he put on a triumphant smirk. This wasn't good. What kind of ammo could I put inside the gun? There were no real bullets around Snowdin, and I doubted one could stuff snowballs inside a gun.

But then I had an idea. It was stupid and made absolutely no sense, but I had to try. I closed my eyes and thought as hard as I could while grasping the gun. I imagined thoughts of Justice, of making things right and fair, and of obliterating wrongs. Then I thought of the Justice I deserved, the fact that I was being blamed for something _Joyce_ did. The complete unfairness of it. That demanded _complete_ justice.

I could already feel the world tilting around me, and things were feeling reversed. Gravity was pulling my upwards. Down was up, up was down, and that didn't seem to make much sense to me. Confused, I tried sensing my surroundings. It was sort of hazy, and I wasn't quite sure about what was happening.

But there _was_ one thing I was sure about, and it was my feeling of _determination_. It was slowly starting to drain away. But before I could panick, I could feel another emotion taking up its place; _Justice_.

I snapped open my eyes to an upside-down world. The buildings of Snowdin were floating from the sky, and the sky was under me. It took me a moment to realize that I was the one that was upside-down, not the rest of the world. Feeling my shirt starting to fall down due to gravity, I undid the ribbon in my hair and used it to tie up my shirt instead. Now my hair was falling down, but I definitely preferred that over my shirt revealing unnecessary things.

I felt a little dizzy from being upside-down, but I still tried to take in my surroundings. Looking ahead, I saw Cowboy staring at me with an open mouth and wide eyes. His hand with the gun was down, but now his other hand was pointing at something in front of me. I narrowed my eyes and turned to my soul. It wasn't red anymore, it was yellow.

 _Mission success._ I grinned as I concentrated on the empty gun. A few moments later, I could feel a presence inside of it. With this comforting sense in mind, I pulled the trigger.

Immediately, yellow bullets whizzed out of my no-longer empty gun. The objects flew over to Cowboy, and he barely managed to regain control of himself and move away before the bullets slammed into a pine tree behind him. My gun worked, and now we could have a real battle.

Cowboy pointed his shaky finger at me. "You… you _identity-stealer_! There can only be one true Justice!" I frowned at his choice of words. Ignoring him, I noticed a crowd gathering around our fight. I thought I noticed someone familiar in those waves of faces, but I couldn't be too sure, since I was feeling pretty nauseous from staying upside-down for so long.

I attempted to move around in the air, but being upside-down is a lot harder than it looks. Growling, I tried to aim at Cowboy, but he was a lot more nimble up in the air. He had had lots of practice, after all. I was just a noob at this. I concentrated on more bullet formations inside the gun, and let it rip. All of them missed my target. But that was okay, Justice would be served eventually. Right?

It was Cowboy's turn now. He put on a face of concentration before sending his own bullets at me. I dodged them, but with much difficulty. Being upside-down completely sucked. Why was Justice so unfair? Sure, I had a long-ranged weapon now, but was the cost of my mobility worth the exchange? Gritting my teeth, I tried to shoot again, but more bullets were coming my way and I had no time to aim.

Being upside-down for such a long time was really getting to me. All the blood rushed to my head, and I felt completely light-footed. The air around me started to turn hazy, and I felt myself losing my concentration. My arms felt like jello, and I found myself unable to hold them up much longer, so I just let them droop down. It was way too much work.

Justice grinned as he noticed my defeated expression. He held up his gun, and fingered the trigger. I knew there was no way for me to win. As a determined soul, I couldn't fight him. As a soul of Justice, I couldn't move around, much less fire the weapon. Not only that, be he was much more experienced as a Justice soul, and could easily finish me off.

Suddenly, my soul pulsed strongly. It wasn't a complete feeling of Justice, it was starting to lean back to Determination. But I couldn't let it do that! Justice had to be served, and it couldn't be done without a long-ranged weapon. I forced the feeling of Determination to go away, and moved aside as Bullets whizzed a centimeter pass me.

"Frisk! Why is there _two_ Justice souls?" Confused, I looked down at the crowd to see Cinder waving up at me. So that was the familiar face I saw.

"I'm not actually a Justice soul." I tried explaining, "I'm actually-" I was cut off as I attempted to dodge more bullets. One grazed my arm, and I gritted my teeth in pain.

"Stop giving me that 'I'm not a Justice Soul' nonsense." Cinder shouted, "You obviously are! Just look at your soul color!"

I grimaced. "Look, I have to be a Justice soul right now because-" More bullets. Annoyed, I tried moving up, but I forgot about my hair. A row of bullets cut perfectly into my dangling hair, and I felt it cut away the long strands. Shock covered my face as I watched those strands float down to the crowd below.

Apparently, I just got a free haircut.

Extremely annoyed and even a bit angry, I floated down closer to the ground so that I could speak to Cinder. "Justice needs to be served right now." I explained, turning to face her, "And-" I stopped as I noticed two smiling skeletons next to her.

"HELLO HUMAN!"

"'Sup kid."

" _Papyrus? Sans?_ What are you doing here?"

"Watching the show. It's quite a _snow-down_ , if you know what I mean." Cue a wink from Sans.

Papyrus was interrupted before he could protest to Sans' puns. "How _dare_ you walk away from Justice! Get back up here and fight!" I bet that's Cowboy, screaming his head off.

I frowned at my upside-down-ness. "I guess I better go."

"Yeah kid. But just to let you know…" Sans turned to me with a knowing look. "You're not you right now. You have to be more determined. Just Justice won't cut it."

My eyes widened at his words. How did _he_ know I had Determination? Feeling unsure, I flew back into the air, and confronted Cowboy.

"So. You decided to come back, huh?" Cowboy readied his gun. "I _told_ you you couldn't run away from Justice."

"I bet the one who wins the battle is the _real_ Justice!" Someone shouted from the crowd. I guessed it was Cinder. Suddenly, everyone below us was chattering excitedly, and Cowboy's face was red with anger.

"I _am_ the real Justice!"

"Alright, how about this?" I suggested, "Justice always wins in the end, right? So we'll let it play out by itself. I admit you _are_ Justice, but _true_ Justice comes to the one who wins. Deal?"

Cowboy gave me a hardened stare before nodding his head. "Justice will be served."

I smiled and closed my eyes. I could hear Sans chuckling from the crowd. Seeing two upside-down people fighting was pretty funny, apparently. But maybe it was time to take his advice. I then let my true instincts kick in, and I felt determination flowing back into my veins. Suddenly, my head felt a lot less muffled, and I could feel my strength kicking back in. This was the true me, like Sans had said. So now my determination was back, but was Justice still there?

I opened my eyes and my gaze immediately directed to the soul in front of me. I could tell everyone was stunned. The crowd, Cowboy, even me.

In front of me was a soul of two colors, half red and half yellow.

* * *

 **Sorry for updating late. I won't be updating as much now due to stuffs. ;-;**

 **And all your support and nice comments make me feel all warm and fluffy inside! :3 So thank you! ~Pizza**


	16. You Better Run

**Title of chap inspired by the song _Angels [Undertale MV]_. :3**

* * *

 _Ohhh yes._ At the moment, I feel as if I should be celebrating like Mettaton. This was too awesome to be true. In the game, you could only have one type of soul color at a time. But now not only had I defied the impossible, but I also had _two_ abilities now.

With the crowd and Cowboy continuing to gape at me, I started to fly around and test this new soul power out. The two-colored soul bobbed in front of me in an encouraging way. Turns out, I can still fly anywhere I like, and in any position I desire. The dizzy feeling I had just moments before had vanished as quickly as it came. So that was the ability of the red soul, and with the yellow one…

With enough experimentation, I pointed the Empty Gun at Cowboy. He yelped before moving into a defensive stance. Feeling my soul beat with energy, I felt bullets form inside the gun. Charged and ready, I pulled the trigger.

Bullets flew out of the weapon, and charged towards Cowboy with unimaginable force and speed. Cowboy barely got himself incinerated, and the snow behind him was now a sizzling puddle. Oopsies.

Cowboy turned a furious glare at me before launching his own attacks, but now with my red soul back, dodging them was easy-peasy. All his attacks were a mile away. Grinning, I launched my own volley at him. He barely got to move aside, and as I turned and swerved away from more of his attacks, I continued to shoot him with a teasing look.

The battle was heated, but it was obvious who had the advantage now. Namely, me. With us spinning in the air and launching little bullets everywhere, I was pretty sure we looked… _humerus_. (Sans, this is your fault.) Maybe from the crowd's point of view, it would look like a dance? Perhaps if someone was filming it, I could see it later. I grinned when I thought of Alphys.

Determination was welling inside of me, I could feel it. With my new soul power, there was no way I could lose. I would beat Cowboy, easy peasy- wait. The yellow of my soul was starting to fade away. Surprised, I went back to thoughts of Justice. _I need to win, so that Justice can be served rightfully._ My soul was starting to turn back to its proper half of yellow now, but I needed to think just a little more. _I've been wronged, and now I need to make things right._ Crap! Now my soul is more yellow than red!

Annoyed, I tried going back to thoughts of determination. Cowboy seemed to notice my frustration and sent his own bullets at me again. I moved away, but with my distractions piling up, my soul had almost become fully yellow again. I could already feel myself flipping sideways. Rolling my eyes, I changed my thoughts to one of determination, and I was right-side up again. With all this diverse thinking, I would have to try to end this battle quickly. Keeping two soul colors at once was such a pain!

Gracefully turning in the air, I took one last precise aim before firing. The bullet pierced through the air with lightning speed and struck Cowboy in the shoulder. I winced from seeing the impact, and hoped it didn't hurt that much. He shouted and screamed with pain before limping and falling straight out of the air.

Well, this wouldn't do. Sighing, I flew under him and managed to catch him in my arms, bridal style. Grunting, I managed to get him to the ground safely. I first made sure I hadn't accidentally killed him. Fortunately, he was still breathing.

"I. Don't. Want. To. Fight." I spaced out each word firmly. I noticed that my soul was completely red again. It looked like I couldn't fight more, even if I wanted to.

"H-how?" Cowboy mumbled. "But… Justice! It's…"

"It's in my favor." I confirmed. And finally, our souls retreated back to our own bodies. "So, I won. That means I got Justice, right?" Hands on hips, I grinned and turned back around to survey the crowd.

Their expressions were not what I expected. For some reason, Sans looked a bit disgruntled. Everyone else was giving me looks of surprise. I guess doing the impossible really stops people in their tracks, huh?

But then suddenly, their expressions are changing. The faces of the other residents of Snowdin are now morphing into looks of pure shock. Some even had looks of… was it _terror_? I gulped as I looked to Papyrus and Cinder. Papyrus had an unreadable expression, and Cinder's a look of disbelief. I didn't even want to look at Sans' face. I was scared to see it. What if his face was a look of betrayal? After all, I had just done the impossible, shot someone without regret, and for all I know, Joyce might be spreading lies about the word of our fight. Gritting my teeth, I knew what I had to do.

I ran.

* * *

After paying a quick trip to the skeleton household to retrieve my backpack, I ran on ahead to the Waterfall. There, I couldn't hurt anyone, and no one would be there to give me scary looks. I ran past waterfalls cascading from high cliffs, and tried my best to ignore the random ice blocks floating in the river next to me. The sound of rushing water filled me with determination.

I was now at the entry to my destination. In front of me was Sans' empty sentry station and a single echo flower. No other monsters were around. I guessed that they had been watching my fight with Cowboy. Sighing, I started to move ahead, but then someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

Surprised and thinking it was Cowboy, back to get his revenge or somewhat, I turned around in a fighting position. However, I immediately faltered when I saw who it was.

" _Sans_?"

"Hey kiddo." There was no telling how he got behind me so quick. He looked cool as ever, but there was a disturbed look on his face. "You aren't seriously leaving now, are you?" For some reason, his tone of his voice seemed to show that he didn't want me to leave. It's probably because he doesn't want me to leave him alone to deal with Joyce.

Speaking of Joyce… I have no idea where she is or what she's doing. I hadn't seen her on my way here. There was no telling where she had hidden, or where she had gone. Maybe she was spreading rumors or lies about me right now. Or… maybe I'm just far-fetching a bit.

I sighed before combing my hand through my hair. It reminded me of how short it was now. Stupid cowboy. "Yeah, well… I don't think I should stay any longer. Didn't you see everyone's faces?" I turned my face away. "And anyway, it was about time for me to leave." 'Cause this is just a game. I have to progress here, or else there's no point. I sighed at the thought.

Although Sans looked upset for a moment (for reasons that I did not know of), he quickly changed it to an expression of amusement. "So kid, ya gonna leave with my jacket too?"

Only then did I realize I was still wearing Sans' jacket. Eyes widening, I unzipped it and handed it back to him. With all the lack of snow in the waterfall area, there was no doubt that I would be fine without it.

Sans put his jacket back on, but didn't zip it up. Now, he looked a lot more like the skeleton I knew, with his jacket back on and all. For some reason, his face was still fixed onto me. "I'm going to Grillby's. Wanna come?" Was this an invitation? His one last attempt to ask me to come back to Snowdin with him?

But did I really want to leave? Snowdin was like home to me. I knew everyone, everyone knew me. Spending time with the skeleton bros and my friends was really something I loved. And although it was cold, I knew I would miss it once I left.

But I couldn't stay. "I-I'm busy." I sniffed regretfully. "I have places to go."

"Ok. Have fun." It was so prompted, so basically said, it made my heart wrench with guilt. Why did he want me to stay so bad, anyways? It wasn't like staying would do any good. I turned my back on him and made my way to leave.

I cracked a small, sad smile. "See ya, lazybones."

Cue a chuckle from Sans. It filled me with warmth. "And kid, don't worry. I'll be keeping an eyesocket out for ya."

Surprised and slightly confused, I turned back around, hoping to catch one last glimpse of his face. But just as I thought, he was already gone.

Well, there was no turning back now, so I moved on ahead. The box had appeared again, but I doubted I needed it. The ribbon was still tied onto my shirt though, and finding no other uses for it, I put that in the box. After all, my hair just wasn't long anymore.

I tried reaching for Alphys' camera from behind the falls, but it was ledged too well inbetween the rocks. So there goes another chance for a free camera.

After crossing the waterfall of falling rocks, I came upon some reeds. A long shadow loomed before me, and I knew what was coming next. I dived into the reeds just as an armored figure appeared from the shadows. That was probably Undyne. Well concealed in the reeds, I stayed put and tried to stay silent. There wasn't any use trying to grab her attention now.

So I sat there and waited, with the reeds waving over me. They were too tall, so I couldn't see anything over them. For some reason, there were no sounds, conversation, or any exchange of words whatsoever. I wondered if Papyrus was even going to come. Maybe he was still at Snowdin, wondering what had happened when I left. After a very long while, I decided to go. After all, Undyne must've left by now, right?

Apparently, I was wrong. Just as I started to get up, I heard the clanking of armor, and I froze. Now that I was up, I could see past the reeds. Undyne was still there alright, and she was heading towards the river bank. I stayed as still as I could. Although she ended up ignoring the player in the game, there was no telling if she would do the same for me.

A blue electric spear suddenly metallerized out of thin air, and Undyne held it in her hand, poised above her head. Although I knew I should've been scared, I was more focused on the little red bit of whatever-it-was poking out the top of her head armor. Was it her hair, or was it some feather thing that people put on armored suits? After looking around, Undyne finally backed off and just slowly… disappeared. It was as if she had just dissolved into the darkness. Even when I thought she was completely gone, I could still see her eyes watching, careful and observant. I waited even further, although my patience was wearing thin. I couldn't stand still for very long. Finally, the eye was gone, and I barged out of the reeds. No other movements… I was safe.

Suddenly, a yellow figure burst from the reeds behind me. At first I thought it was cowboy… but it wasn't. "Yo… did you see the way she was staring at you?" It's… monster kid! He was like a small dinosaur, wearing a striped shirt of course. When did he get into that bush? I hadn't even noticed him… "That… was _awesome_! I'm _sooo_ jealous! What'd you do to get her attention?"

"Ah… well. I'm cool that way." I hope I'm not laying it on too thick.

"Ha ha." Lansot bounced around excitedly, and I couldn't help smiling a bit. "C'mon, let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" Then he rushed past me, but not before falling on his face. Somehow, he managed to pick himself up without any arms, and then he continued to run.

Smiling, I followed on. Even still, Undyne would be watching more closely now. And if events followed the game's rules, I would be having a couple close calls later. A feeling of dread hung over me… but I decided to stay determined.

As I continued to move on, my doubts and thoughts just sort of started to fade away. The place was too beautiful for my feelings of uncertainty. Little turquoise reeds waved around next to the long, aqua-colored rivers. And although one particular one was in my way, a row of pretty large flower lilies grew directly from my side to the other. Someone had solved this puzzle already, and I could cross safely. I gingerly placed a foot on the first flower, and was surprised when it held my weight easily. It didn't even sink under the water's surface. Feeling confident, I strided across to the other side. It was like walking on concrete, safe and secure.

I had no idea where Monster Kid had ran off to, or how he had even managed to get far enough without my seeing, but no matter. Moving on, I fought a couple of smaller monsters and failed to find the Abandoned Quiche. Apparently, someone must've gotten to it already. As usual, all the puzzles were already done for me, leaving me with zero work.

Moving on, I found that there were many tales to be told, from the signs on the walls to the words of the echo flowers. There were wishes, explanations, and stories. Looking up to the ceiling, I really did see sparkling stones glittering from above. They were almost just like stars. It almost even made me miss the world aboveground. _Almost._

I eventually stepped on a small metal plate that carried me over a large, dark abyss. The metal gave me minimal standing space, and the darkness was so big, I felt vulnerable, and even a little scared. There was no hiding my look of relief once I had gotten to the other side. I hoped I never had to cross on that again. I continued across a wide wooden bridge that went over the abyss as well. And I noticed my shadow just in time.

I stopped just a spear pierced the wood in front of me. It splintered and cracked, and I had a bad feeling of foreshadowing. Suddenly, armored Undyne appeared on the other side of the abyss, and she threw a whole volley of spears at me. Gulping, I ran for my life. At first, avoiding them seemed easy enough. But eventually, the turns in the bridge increased, and I found myself veering sideways as to not drop into the abyss below. I was starting to have a difficult time trying to dodge. The throws were way too straight and horizontal, not curved like a normal throw.

Plus, I'm only more nimble in the air, not when I'm running for my life on the ground. I thought I had grown stronger and faster… but I really hadn't. I was only powerful with my soul, up in the air. But down on the ground, with no magic to help me whatsoever, I was useless, helpless.

Eventually, a spear passed through me. It left behind an empty feeling. I shivered as my soul was pulled out. Gasping, small white arrows rained down on me. Two bounced off my arms, but they left cuts there. Wincing, I tried to fly away with my soul out, but it retreated back into my body. Gritting my teeth, I tried to run away, but another spear passed through me. My soul was pulled out again. I tried dodging, but the attacks were too random, too sudden. More bounced on my arms, and I grimaced. I was getting weaker by the moment. Soul back in body, I ran as fast as I could, without even paying attention to the spears. It worked, if only for a little while. But soon, another one had struck through me.

More raining arrows. I really tried my best, but I was weak. I cringed at every hit that struck me. My face, arms, and even my legs. The pants were starting to rip. After that attack, I found myself limping forwards. There wasn't enough time to grab a donut and eat.

It happened again. And again. Eventually, I had started to kneel on the ground. Huffing, I stared above me in desperation. Arrows were raining down again. But I was so close to the reeds… they were just a bit further away. I tried to crawl there, and an arrow struck my back. I yelped before face planting the wooden planks. I was so screwed, and I knew it.

Where was my determination now, when I needed it? I was so hurt, I could barely move. The reeds were literally right in front of me now, but I couldn't even crawl to them. I felt so bruised and scratched up, I just wanted to… give up. I mean, even if I died, I _could_ just come back to my last save point, right? After all, I was the red soul… I could go back as many times as I needed to.

Mind made, I shut my eyes, waiting for the end.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger. :3 ~Pizza**


	17. Waterfall Wishes

My eyes shut, I waited for the pain to come. I waited for death. There was nothing. A few seconds later, I was _still_ alive. Skeptical, I opened my eyes a tidbit and tilted my head up. The arrows above me had stopped, and as they hovered teasingly, they glowed a light blue. At first, I was confused. Why weren't they falling down on me, ready to strike their last finishing blows upon my weakened state?

Right now, dying didn't feel very appealing. Knowing that I had a chance to flee, but to not take it into account, would be a huge waste. I knew I wouldn't have much time to move, and I had to take this into my advantage. With no time to question these things, I managed to forcefully drag myself into the reeds. Only once I was sure my whole body was hidden, did I stop and catch my breath. I heard the arrows and spears piercing the wood behind me, and never had I ever felt so thankful for being safe from those things.

There was no doubt about it. Someone had just saved me by stopping the arrows before they hit me. But how? And who was it?

Suddenly, loud thunking noises approached the reeds I were hidden in. I wasn't completely safe yet. I stayed frozen as Undyne's metal armor broke through the long stalks. Her leg was right next to my face. I gulped as I watched her arm reach down, and as it stopped right next to my leg. Suddenly, it grabbed onto something, and the arm went up. She hadn't grabbed me, in fact, she had completely ignored me. I sighed in relief. Soon after, Undyne marched away, obviously dissatisfied.

Thankful for being saved and from escaping possible death twice, I meekly reached into my backpack and pulled out a monster candy before popping it into my mouth. There was a slight licorice flavor, which was disgusting, but I couldn't be picky when I was dying. Slowly but surely, the scratches on my arms started to fade off. I still had questions about how that worked. Maybe all monster food was magical?

I wasn't recovered to full health, but I doubted I would need to. There must've been some kind of save point ahead. Filled with determination, and now in better condition, I marched onwards, and out of the reeds. And monster kid burst out, right behind me.

"Yo… did you see that!?" He looked ready to jump out of his non-existent pants. "Undyne just… _touched me_! I'm never washing my face ever again…!"

"Uh… right." Well that was weird, but it wasn't my fault if he wanted to stay dirty. I made my way to leave.

"Man, are you unlucky. If you were sitting just a _little_ bit to the left…!" I shivered just at the thought of being caught. Monster Kid sure was dense sometimes. "Yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!" Gee, I hope not. Then he let out a little laugh before attempting to run ahead, but not before falling on his face again.

I tried catching up to him, but he sure did run fast. Before I knew it, he was gone. Shaking my head in amusement, I moved on past the purple walls. Little bits of purple ore was stuck in them, here and there. Ahead, there was a nearby mousehole and a table with the cheese surrounded by a purple substance. Turns out, it was a magical crystal. Not to mention that it was stuck to the table, so I couldn't take it off. But knowing that the mouse might one day extract the cheese from the mystical crystal, now _that_ filled me with determination.

Already, I could feel my whole body filling up with a comforting warmth. All the scratches and bruises I had from my previous encounter with Undyne were already fading away into nothing more than bad memories. Fully healed, I marched on towards the blue Echo Flower. This was my first time approaching one headfirst. They were really large, slightly bigger than my head. The entire length of the flower was the same color, from the petals to the stem, just a bright blue neon. I peered into the center of one, and was met with pitiful squeaks.

I leaned in closer to the flower and cupped my hand over my mouth before whispering, "Stay determined, mousie!" The flower echoed my words back at me. Satisfied, I quietly backed off and moved past it.

And then ahead… there was an odd-looking telescope on a tripod. And next to it, I found a familiar skeleton. Was it who I thought it was? Delighted, I ran up to him. "Sans!"

"Eh?" He turned around to face me. It seemed like forever since I had last saw him. "Oh, hey kiddo. I see you're okay."

"Huh?" I frowned at his comment. What was he talking about? And this wasn't the normal dialogue one would usually have with him in the game… "When was I _not_ okay?"

"Kid." He let out a small chuckle, but it seemed light hearted. "Back there… you looked pretty beat up. Don't try lying to me."

I felt my face turning a bit red. "Y-you _saw_ that fight? A-and saw me…" I paused. _And saw me failing and dying and falling on my face?_ I shook my head to clear the thoughts. "Where were you? Were you watching me on the sidelines?" Sans didn't respond. Instead, he just gave me a wide, mischievous grin. What was that supposed to mean?

I thought back to the chase with Undyne. Had I seen any signs of Sans anywhere? Had anything went out of the ordinary, perhaps? Well, when I was on the ground next to the reeds, the arrows had faltered to rain down upon me. They had stopped for some reason, and they had been surrounded by a slight blue glow…

Had Sans _saved_ me back there? "D-did you?..." Realization must've been dawning on my face, since Sans' grin only grew wider. I blinked at him for couple of moments before my own smile was stretching upon my face. So of course, I threw him a hug.

"T-thank you!" I laughed, hugging him tightly. His jacket was poofy, and I was glad for that, since I wasn't sure how hugging a bone-hard skeleton would be like. I suddenly realized that Sans had stiffened, and I quickly let go of him. Did I do something wrong? "Oh! Uh, sorry about that." I started to apologize. "I just-"

"Don't worry about it, kid." I could swear there was a slight tint of blue on his cheekbones. But in the next second, it was gone. So that just made me question my eyesight. "It's not everyday that a _bonehead_ like me gets a hug from a human."

I frowned. "What about Joyce?" Sans quickly gave me a look that meant something along the lines of _Don't-mention-the-obvious-and-just-enjoy-the-pun._ I took the cue, and so I smiled for him. "Just… thanks for keeping an eyesocket out for me."

"No problem, kiddo."

"Say…" I pointed to the telescope next to him. "You getting into the telescope business?" I smirked at his expression of surprise. It wasn't my fault I already knew what he was going to say.

"Uh… yeah." He continued to frown at me. "It's normally 50,000 G to use this premium telescope…" Sans gestured to it in a dramatic way, and I rolled my eyes. "But… since I know you, you can use it for free. Howzabout it?" I giggled at his use of words.

So, I decided to use the telescope. Sans moved out of the way as I peered into the scope. But only after putting my eye up to the rim did I remember what would happen in the game. I quickly jerked my head backwards, but I could already feel something coating around my eye.

"Huh? You aren't satisfied?" Sans grinned at my expression, but he seemed bothered by something. Probably at my quick drawback, after only sticking my eye on the scope for about less than two seconds. "Don't worry. I'll give you a full refund." Cue a wink.

I puffed up my cheeks. "Stay here for a moment, will ya? I'll be right back." I marched to the nearby river, Sans' grin burning into my back. There were little reeds and lilypads growing around in the turquoise water, and for a moment, I wondered if I could even see my reflection in the opaque water.

Apparently, I could. Bending down next to the water's edge, I peered at my reflection. I sure looked strange now. With my hair cut short, I had a brand-new look. There was also a bit of dirt and grime on my face, not to mention a big purple splotch on my right eye. I should've known. Reaching my hands into the water, I cleaned myself up. It was cold, but surprisingly clean. I had no idea as to how all the water underground was so pure, but I wouldn't be getting any answers soon.

When I was finally satisfied with my reflection in the water, I headed back to Sans. "Zero percent satisfied." I gave him a thumbs-down for extra emphasis.

"Sorry to hear that, kid." He didn't sound very sorry, but that's typical Sans for ya. "But hey, why don't you look again? I'm sure you'll bear better results this time." The grin he gave me was humored, but he sounded sincere, so I reluctantly looked into the telescope again.

I was met with a completely different sight. Instead of nothing but pink, which was what I had expected, I had a real scene in front of me now. Little blue crystals shone from the ceiling of the cave, and they glittered in a way that no rocks on the surface could. Gasping in delight, I admired each and every one, turning the scope around to take all of it in. It was just too bad that the _game_ never let you do this.

After finally seeing everything, I reluctantly moved away from it to gaze at Sans. "It's beautiful."

He grinned mischievously. "That will be 50,000 G."

"Hey!" I slapped his arm playfully.

"Just kidding." He chuckled. "But it was good, huh?"

"It was great." I confirmed, nodding my head like an idiot. "Definitely a worthy Premium Telescope."

"Glad someone agrees." He grinned.

"Well…" I sighed, "I guess it's time for me to move on. I can't stay to chat forever."

"Kid…" He hesitated. "Where are you even headed?"

"Away." I answered, not really sure myself. It wasn't as if I was trying to leave the Underground. I just needed to progress through the game, that was all.

"Well then." Sans seemed unsatisfied with my answer, but he didn't push it. "I'll see ya around, kiddo."

"Yeah… around." I waved him a farewell before turning away and heading up to another passageway. I had only taken a couple of steps before another voice arose from the end of the hall.

"I relocated my store, but there are still no customers…" _Uh oh._ It's the Nicecream Man. I tried to walk away without him noticing, but he already had. Seeing me, his enthusiasm greatly increased. "Fortunately, I've thought of a solution! _Punch cards_! Every time you buy a Nice Cream, you can take a punch card from the box. If you have three cards, you can trade them for a free Nicecream!"

"No thanks." I wasn't going to buy any, especially without an umbrella in hand.

"Well then…" The Nicecream Man's voice had quieted down to a small whisper. Was he trying to sound mysterious? "Tell your friends… There's icecream… Hidden in the depths of a watery cavern…"

I quickly backed off and exited that passageway. I then approached a weird onion-shaped monster, and we exchanged some words about stars. I even answered a few of his questions, since he was such a curious fellow. I eventually moved on ahead across the rickety bridges that stretched over the rivers. I stepped through marshy grasses as I navigated my way through the rocky, black paths. I knew there was no use searching for the ballet shoes, as they were already in the box when I had first approached Snowdin.

I listened to every echo flower along the way. It was a passing conversation of two monsters. They wished… that they could return to the surface. So that they could see the stars again. It made me a little sad. Even further ahead, I met Onion-san. He was literally an Onion with octopus tentacles. At first, it had slightly scared me, but I quickly learned he was harmless. His expressions were humorous and a little pitiful, but it was his words that had caught my attention. Pretty much, all he wanted was to go to the ocean above ground with his friends. Once I had reached the end of the room, I was sad to see Onion-san leave. Even still… I knew I had to go on. I waved him a hearty goodbye in his departure.

"I'll see you around!" He gurgled as he started to sink back underwater. "Have a good time! In Waterfalllllllllllllllllllllllllllll…" And he was gone.

All these monsters… they just wanted to head back aboveground. They just wanted to go enjoy the joys of the world above again. That was their only wish. Were we, the humans, keeping them from accomplishing even that? Actually, what was _my_ wish? Did I even have one? I thought about it for a little while, but ended up trying to push it away as I moved on. I had other matters to take care of first.

After battling a couple more monsters and filling my pockets with loot, I met another hallway. At the end, I found the piano room. I was never going to figure how the monsters were ever able to get ahold of a piano, not to mention as to why they would bring it to a place like this.

Nevertheless, I was delighted. Without a moment's hesitation, I quickly rushed to the instrument. There was no chair, but since the piano was rather short, I went down onto my knees. It was wooden and simple, and although the keys only went up to two octaves, it was more than enough for me to play a couple of my favorite songs. That's right… I could play the piano.

I hadn't touched a piano in so long, it felt almost foreign to me at first. The keys were cold, and my fingers were slightly numb. But after a few scales and warm-ups, I was getting back into the hang of it. Wiggling my fingers over the keys, I prepared for my first piece; Papyrus' theme song.

My left hand started first, and my fingers drummed on the keys quickly and accurately. Then my right hand was on as well, flying over the keys in a fashionable manner. Eventually, I even felt myself dancing along with the song. A slight bob of the head, or a twist of the arm, and even a curve or straightening of my back, it was in perfect synchronization. Once I was in the middle of the song, I was having a great time. Happiness filled me as the music flooded into my eardrums, and I let all my emotions out in the piece. When I was done, I knew I wasn't satisfied. So I went for more.

I played Spider Dance next. Then after that, Death by Glamour. And even later, I went on to Heartache, Hopes and Dreams, and even Megalovania. By the end of that, my hands were burning with a fiery passion. It felt great to excercise my hands again.

I suddenly froze as I heard a slow, steady clapping. It was coming from behind me. I slowly turned around to see someone leaning against a wall not too far behind me. He wore a familiar expression in a cowboy hat.

"Bravo, bravo!" Cowboy applauded, his clapping leaving tiny echoes bouncing in the room.

* * *

 **And here's another chapter 'cause why not.**

 ** _Woot! Go Sans!_ You didn't seriously think I'd let the Frisk die, did ya? ;) **

**So... thanks again for reading! I hope ya enjoyed! :3 ~Pizza**


	18. Caught Up

" _Ehh_?" I quickly jumped up, slightly hysterical. "How long were you standing there?!"

"Oh… around the end of Bonetrousle, I think?"

I couldn't help gaping at him. That was the first song! He must've been standing there for a long time then. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You looked like you were having a good time… and I didn't want to disturb the music playing. It was good." He flashed me a grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "So why stop me now?"

"I figured it was about time."

"Hey, wait a second…" I poked my chin with my finger, thinking, "What are you even doing here? You're not here to get… _revenge_ now, are you?"

" _What_? No! I mean… ugh." Cowboy slapped his forehead. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I judged Justice based on one side of the story, and made some mistakes in my verdicts. I didn't mean any harm."

I thought about this. "I guess… but shouldn't those of Justice be more careful when they judge others? _Especially_ those of Justice?"

"I was desperate." He admitted shamefully, shaking his head in an apologetic manner. "I just knew that I had to find the guilty one quickly, before they caused more damage. Except… that backfired pretty quick."

"You can say that again."

"Look, I said I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pin it on you, and-"

"Hey, no. Look, it's fine." I shook my head and headed forward, "Let's just start over, 'kay?"

Cowboy gave me a disbelieving look. "Just like that? You're going to forgive me?"

I brought my hand out, ignoring his comment. "I'm Frisk. Nice to meet you."

"F-Frisk? But-" He stopped himself. "Um, right. I'm Justin." He took my hand in his, and we shared a handshake. I had to admit, it was kinda awkward.

"Cool." I commented, "But hey… can I just call you Cowboy? I'm already kinda used to it."

"Cowboy?" I heard skepticism there.

"Uh… yeah." Now that I was saying it, I realized how weird it sounded. "Because of…" My gaze travelled up to the hat sitting upon his head. "That."

"Oh." Justin shrugged. "Well, sure. I'll just take it as a nickname."

"Cool beans." I grinned. "So, now that we're all introduced, what brings you here? You didn't come just to apologize, right?"

"Oh, right! Well, I had already passed through the Waterfall before, and I thought I could guide you through it, since I guessed I owed it to you after trying so hard to kill you…" He paused when he realized how strange it sounded. I waved for him to continue. "But… you've made it pretty far on your own, and rather quickly. I'm not even sure if you need my help anymore." He admitted.

"Not on my own…" I muttered, thinking of Sans.

"Huh? What was that?"

"N-nothing!" I raised my arms up. "Anyways, I actually do need help. We're going to be meeting Undyne again, right? I had a rough time with the first encounter, so I might need your guidance the next time she attacks again."

"Undyne?" Cowboy looked slightly confused.

"Uh, yeah? The fish lady? In the armored suit?" No recognition flashed on Cowboy's face. "Don't tell me you don't know who _Undyne_ is."

"I do!" He defended himself quickly, "It's just that… I haven't encountered her yet. Not even once. So I'm surprised that you had to… meet her."

"Oh." Well, that was plainly simple. Suddenly remembering something, I turned back to the piano. "Say, has anyone solved this puzzle yet?"

"I don't play the piano. And I doubt that Ricky could either."

"You know Ricky?" I inquired.

"Well, yeah. I thought everyone did?"

"Hm, good point." I mused. "Anyways, back to the point. The song that's played from the rained on statue is Memory, right?" Cowboy nodded slowly, and I grinned. "Perfect." I scurried back to the piano and kneeled back down, placing all my fingers on the correct keys. Then I took a deep breath before I started to play.

The notes were simple, clear, and everlasting. The little twinkles of the sounds echoed in the room. Each key that was pressed added a new harmony into the music. It was filled with a kind of… hopeful emotion. One of longing, sadness, wishful thinking, and… memory.

As I pressed the last note of the song, and as the echoes wearily bounced off the walls and slowly faded away, I was still stuck in the trance of my own song. I really _did_ miss playing the piano. And I really missed this song as well. It was my favorite.

Suddenly, the peaceful tranquility was demolished as the wall next to us fell apart, leaving a gaping hole. Seeing it was open to us, Cowboy and I headed in. Inside, there was a small table with a beautiful red gem on it. I stepped forward and gazed at it, admiring how shiny it looked. It was the Legendary Artifact.

Cowboy gestured for me to take it, but I hesitated. Did I really want my pockets to be filled with Dog Residue? Not really, but I guessed it had to be done.

Gulping, I reached forward to take the artifact. In the next moment, it was in my hand, and I suddenly felt heavy. _Very_ heavy. Huffing, I quickly tossed the artifact to Cowboy and heaved my backpack off of me. I unzipped it, and a small, fluffy white dog jumped out of it. Annoying Dog was deployed. The dog headed straight for the artifact in Cowboy's hands and jumped onto it. The surprised look on Cowboy's face was priceless, and he dropped the artifact and dog. Somehow, the dog was able to absorb the artifact, and I literally saw it fuse right into him. Then he ran away, right through the wall, just like that.

For a long while, Cowboy and I just stood there, looking like idiots.

"Welp. Let's see how much residue we got." I concluded, looking into my backpack. I was extremely surprised when I found glowing crystals in my backpack! Apparently, Dog Residue was glowing crystals. I took one of them out and handed it to Cowboy, and he took it eagerly. I had no idea how these would produce salads… but maybe that was something I would figure out in another time.

Heading back out, Cowboy and I rushed past the statue and found the trash can of umbrellas. Snatching a pink one, we headed back and placed it atop the statue. Suddenly, a music box inside of it started to play, and I was filled with the beautiful music of Memory. Upon my insistence, Cowboy agreed to sit there with me and just listen to music for a little while. After all, Memory was my favorite song.

Soon, we agreed it was time to go. Casting one last farewell glance to the statue, we walked away until the music faded away behind us. The serene sound of that distant music box filled me with determination. Cowboy took another umbrella and handed me a red one, which I accepted gratefully. Then we were moving on, past rain, waterfalls, and puddles. For some reason, Monster Kid was nowhere to be seen. But I wasn't alone, I had Cowboy with me.

Even further ahead, we had finally come into the view of the castle. Little crystal stars glowed in the sky, and the castle's blue roof tops loomed far away over the horizon of deep pits. It was extremely quiet and serene, which was almost scary. The two of us headed past that quickly enough.

We eventually returned the umbrella, and without Monster Kid to help us climb the cliff, Cowboy helped me instead. He gave me a foothold to get up, and I helped drag him over as well. We made a good team. For once, I was glad to have company. But even still… I was independent. I didn't need help. I was fine on my own. Right?

After reading a few signs, we were on a bridge. I started to move forward, but then Cowboy stopped me, and just in time. There was a blue circle in front of us. Before I could question what it what it was for, Cowboy pointed to our shadows. Undyne was here again.

Suddenly, we were surrounded by blue circles, and in the next moment, blue spears pierced through all of them. Undyne had appeared below us on a different boardwalk. It was time to run.

Cowboy and I ran. We navigated through puzzling paths of bridges, and managed to actually dodge most of the protruding spears. The blue circles that appeared on the ground were more than enough to warn us of the attacks. If I was ever close to getting speared, Cowboy would pull me out of the way just in time. But even still, depending on him made me feel rather useless. After all, he was perfectly capable on his own, so why shouldn't I be as well?

Eventually, we were met with a fork in the road. I started to take the path that I believed was right, based on my knowledge of the game, but Cowboy started to pull me in a different direction. I quickly shook him off.

"Where are you headed? Isn't the exit that way?" I pointed to the direction the game would usually suggest, but was too busy talking to notice the blue circle underneath me. Justin pulled me out of the way just in time, again.

"I've been here before." He pointed out. "I know the right way out. Just follow me." He turned and started to move in his own direction, and I reluctantly followed him. We ran for a little while, and I started to question if he really knew where he was going.

"Are you one-hundred percent sure?"

"Yes! I am. Just follow me. We're almost there." A few moments later, we still weren't. Cowboy pulled me away from another blue circle. "Just a little further."

I finally stopped. This definitely wasn't the right way. It was the complete opposite direction of the correct way, if I was guessing correctly. And even if it was the right way… did it matter? Undyne was attacking us because of me, right? Technically if Cowboy was smart enough, he would've already headed onwards to become friends with her, which would result her in leaving no grudges against him. This chase was focused on me, and only me. If I ran away from Cowboy, it would lead Undyne away, and then he would be safe.

Cowboy finally realized I wasn't following his lead, and he turned around to give me a confused look. "Come on!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" But as soon as his back was turned on me, I turned away and ran in _my_ own direction. Namely, the opposite way. There was no way I was going to keep staying dependent on Cowboy, or keep him in possible danger. I had my own independence and pride to take into account.

By the time Cowboy finally realized I wasn't behind him, I was already far away. "W-wait! Where are you going-" He stopped talking when a blue spear nearly pierced him. I wasn't far enough away yet, apparently. Scowling, I made my way down, trying my best to avoid Undyne's attacks. Without Cowboy to pull me out of the way all the time, I would have to stay more cautious.

There! I had finally made it to the very large bridge platform. That meant I _had_ been going the right way! It would've been stupid to continue listening to Cowboy, when he was just leading me in the wrong direction. I ran across the platform, and managed to avoid every single spear. I was actually starting to feel good about myself again. I _could_ dodge Undyne's attacks! I _could_ fare well on my own! And by doing this, I was keeping Cowboy in the clear. Grinning ear to ear, I made it past the large platform and onto the smaller bridge.

But then, I suddenly remembered. This was the place where Undyne would break the bridge and make me fall. Realizing this, I tried to go back, but the arising spears kept pushing me forward until I was at the end of the bridge. When the spears stopped, I attempted to run back as fast as I could, but Undyne was already there to meet me. There was no telling how she had gotten from below to up here in just a matter of seconds.

The red thing bobbed on the top of her armor as she approached me. I could see her white pupils behind her armor, and it seemed to pierce right through me. She sure was intimidating, all right. Armored Undyne brought up her arm, and a whole row of spears spliced down the wood in front of me, cutting a perfect separation line between me and her. I tried to jump onto her end of the bridge, but we were already falling, _falling_ …

* * *

I woke feeling groggy and sore. My bones ached, my head hurt, and I was laying on a bed of flowers.

 _Please don't tell me I reset!_ I quickly got up and examined my surroundings, only to sigh in relief when I found myself in a landscape that could only belong to the waterfall. I was in a dark, narrow cavern with little cascading falls, small wooden platforms, and water everywhere else. Where was Undyne? Cowboy? Why was I lying on a patch of golden flowers? I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. Maybe I should've just stayed with Cowboy instead of running off into my own direction.

I didn't plan on getting wet exactly, so I jumped from platform to platform as I made my way out. But eventually, there were no more platforms. Taking a deep breath, I jumped into the cold water. Good news, it was somewhat clean. Bad news, it was freezing cold.

Sloshing my way forwards, I passed by piles of trash. Occasionally, a piece of trash would flow by my shaking figure. It made me question if the water really was clean or not. Huffing, I marched past those quickly. Even further ahead, there was a huge waterfall, one that seemed to flow straight from the ceiling of the cavern. Little pieces of trash would fall from those falls and then move on to drop into the bottomless abyss below. It continued on and on, with the garbage appearing and falling to its doom. Viewing this endless cycle of worthless garbage _somehow_ filled me with determination.

I went on walking past a rusted bicycle, a beat-up desktop computer, a DVD case, and a cooler. Inside, there was a single freeze-dried space food bar, or Astronaut Food, in short. So someone had taken the other one. Deciding not to be picky, I took the bar and stuck it in my pocket. Then further ahead… a regular training dummy. It seemed old and dusty, but I knew better. I sighed before heading straight past it to attempt to make my way to leave, but of course, it popped up in front of me. After it ranted on about some things about my cowardice and his cousin, my soul was drawn out, and I was (thankfully) carried out of the cold water. We were in a fight.

Surprisingly, the attacks were easy enough, and I was able to divert most of the magic tumbleweeds to hit the Mad Dummy. Each attack made him more irritable, and mad. So now I'm thinking, does "Mad" signify that he's crazy and cuckoo, or that he's angry all the time? Or maybe both, I'll never know for sure, will I? I continued to direct his attacks back at himself, and then the floating parts of him started to fly around wildly, until it started to look like a mad dance.

As the dummy performed another mad ska dance, mechanical whirs started to fill the room. Suddenly, dummy bots appeared and sent missiles flying my way, in which I diverted all of those to the Mad Dummy as well. After a while, Dummy became impatient and somehow managed to fling a knife in my direction, without using his non-existent arms of course. That was by far the easiest to avoid, and the knife made a plopping sound as it drowned into the water under me. After dodging that, Mad Dummy started to rant uselessly, and then the acid rain came.

Napstablook to the rescue! Little white droplets fell down onto the Mad Dummy, though they fell so slowly, I couldn't understand why he didn't just move out of the way. But after the rain stopped, he _did_ move away, and Napstablook took his place.

"...Sorry, I interrupted you, didn't I?" His eyes were upset and apologetic.

"Oh no, it's fine. We were about done anyways."

The sad ghost ignored me. "As soon as I came over, your friend immediately left… oh no… you guys looked like you were having fun…"

"We weren't, trust me. No one was happy with it, in fact."

The ghost continued to bathe himself in his own sorrows, completely ignoring my words. "Oh no… I just wanted to say hi… oh no…." I rolled my eyes as my soul flew back into my body, and I found myself dropping back into the cold water. "Well… I'm going to head home now…" He suddenly paused. "oh… um… feel free to 'come with' if you want…"

Oh? Come to a ghost's house? "I sure will."

"But no pressure…"

"None taken."

"I understand if you're busy…"

I frowned at him. He needed to stop being so negative. "I'm fine."

"It's fine… No worries… Just thought I'd offer…" Then he started to fly away, and I quickly followed him, relieved when I had reached dry ground. Right behind him, I made my way to a wide lake, and past that, a three-way intersection. "Hey… my house is up here… in case you want to see…"

"I do." I insisted.

"Or in case… you don't…" Then he flew away so quickly, I didn't even have time to say a quick goodbye. Well, I could easily solve that problem. By heading to his house!

As I made my way around the lake, I was filled with a feeling of tranquility. And that filled me with determination. Meeting the intersection, I headed down the path that Napstablook had taken. Still dripping wet, I was met with two identical ghost(or was it snail?)-looking houses. The red one would be locked, so I headed to the blue one, which would be Napstablook's home. As I went to turn the knob of the door, I heard a voice inside.

"I'm back…" That was Napstablook.

"Did you find anyone? Was anyone there?" That voice sounded awfully familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Yes… I invited them over, but I don't think…"

"Wait! So you did find her?" It was that voice again! Creaking open the door, I set a foot inside the ghost's household. Taking a look around, I found cracks in the floor and walls, not to mention a few cobwebs stuck in certain corners of the room. I could swear there was a flyer of a bake sale on it. And looking further more, I was met with a familiar face.

I couldn't help a wide smile. "Cowboy!"

* * *

 **And I posted three chapters in a row, to make up for the following two weeks that I won't be. 'Cause I'll be visiting China. So unless I can get my hands on a computer with internet there, I doubt I can update further. ;-;**

 **But still, thank you guys so much! Now at _41 followers_ , we're doing great! Without your help or support (especially those that comment on _every single chapter_ , you know who you are! :D :D thank you!), I never would have been able to be filled with so much... _Determination_.**

 **So ya! Thank you! And see ya soon! :3 ~Pizza**


	19. Reunited

**And now I'm finally back from those two weeks of China! :D So here's another chap for you!~**

* * *

"Frisk?" Cowboy's eyes mirrored my emotions. "I-I'm glad you're okay!" He came forward and gave me a hug, to which I slightly stiffened to at first from shock, but then I hugged back as well.

We finally broke apart. "Y-yeah! I made it past Undyne! And…" I stopped when I noticed Napstablook staring at us strangely. I hoped he wasn't getting this the wrong way.

"Oh… you really came…" He mumbled in a surprised way. "Sorry, I… wasn't expecting that."

I couldn't help feeling a bit relieved at how he interpreted our greeting. "Even after I repeated to you five times that I would?" I teased playfully.

Of course, he ignored my comment. "It's not much, but… make yourself at home." Then he turned back to his computer, probably to give me and Cowboy our space to talk.

"So." I turned back to him. "What's up?"

Cowboy looked slightly shaken for some reason. "I-It was my fault, wasn't it? I didn't keep a more careful watch on you, so you left before I could lead you to the exit, and-"

"Why are you blaming yourself? It's like Napsta's rubbing his influence onto you. And anyways," I waved my hand dismissively, "I made it out eventually, right? That's what counts."

"B-but still!" Cowboy protested, "Either way, I should've kept a better watch on you."

"You keep a better watch on me?" I shook my head. "I can manage fine on my own, thanks. You don't have to try protecting me every second." Although I appreciate that he does, it's starting to get on my nerves. "And anyway, it was my choice to leave you behind, so..."

"Hey." Curiosity suddenly edged Cowboy's voice, "Why did you run off in the first place?"

I turned my head slightly away. "I cause too much trouble for everyone."

Cowboy blinked twice at me before quickly protesting. "What? How do you cause trouble for anyone? I mean, you're so talented, and good at everyth-" Cowboy suddenly turned a bright red. "Uh... what I mean is, you're not a trouble for anyone."

"Even those in Snowdin?" I challenged.

Cowboy blinked confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone's scared of me now, right?" I spat distastefully, "After that battle we had, they must've been scared out of their wits."

"No... they weren't scared, they were just surprised."

I frowned at him. "But their faces... they looked scared." I was understating it though. If I remembered correctly, they had looked terrified.

"Where are you getting this from?" Cowboy prodded, "They were just confused, that's all. Before I left, I had made sure to explain to them all the details, so you should have nothing to be worried about."

"Oh..." So they weren't scared? They didn't all hate me? Maybe leaving had been a bad idea after all... I shook my head to clear my doubts of regret, since dreading on past choices was a bad idea.

"And also!" Cowboy's eyes were suddenly filled with interest. "On the topic of our battle... how did you do it? With that soul-color changing and all that!"

"Eh? Oh." That. I wasn't really even sure myself. What did he expect me to tell him? _Oh, I know exactly how I did it. Allow me to tell you so you can use this technique as well._ "Well..." I started, trying to think. "How do I start?"

"How you changed your soul to yellow." Cowboy prompted eagerly, all earlier distress forgotten.

"Right. So..." I tried my best to explain. "If I remember correctly, I first tried to think of traits that belonged to the yellow soul."

"Justice." Cowboy added in.

"Uh, right. Then I started thinking thoughts of Justice, and I just sorta... tipped over?" I shrugged. My explanations were pretty terrible.

Cowboy seemed equally as dissatisfied. "Well then, how did you get a soul of two colors?"

Great, another unanswerable question. I sighed before responding, "I dunno. I guess I just turned my thoughts to Justice _and_ Determination?"

Cowboy's thirst of curiosity was obviously still unsatisfied. "That's the most descriptive you can get it?" He prodded on, excited like a little kid. "Have you ever tried doing multiple colors with other traits? How about three traits at once? Could you do it right now, maybe? How does the orange and light blue soul work?" I was starting to get a little overwhelmed here.

I shrugged, and suddenly felt a pun brewing inside of me. Cracking a smile, I spoke, " _Tibia_ honest, I'm pretty terrible at explaining things."

Cowboy frowned before shaking his head, a pitiful smile on his face. "Gee. That... was pretty good. But really, a skeleton pun? You really _have_ been spending too much time around Sans..." The tone of his voice was small, and maybe even sounded a little jealous?

"Not that much." I protested. But even as I said it, I could tell it was a lie. I had spent quite a bit of time with Sans in the past few days. And now that I thought about it, we had somehow even managed to spend our time without Joyce around to ruin things, so that was a surprise. Just thinking about good times was enough to make me smile, and allow me to momentarily forget about my worries. Seeing how Cowboy was unresponsive, I turned my gaze over to three radios to the side. "Hey, aren't those Napsta's CDs?"

"Uh, yeah!" Cowboy headed up to the one closest to us. Seeing our interest in his CD's, Napstablook turned around to watch us. "I'm pretty sure this one was Spooktunes."

"It is." I confirmed, and after trying multiple buttons on the radio, I managed to turn it on.

"Oh… a classic spooktune." Napstablook spoke up. "They don't make songs like this anymore…"

"Pity." I commented, moving to the next one entitled Spookwave. "What about this one?" Turning it on, spooky waves of music was emitted and bounced around the room in creepy echoes.

"Dang…" Cowboy commented, "That ambience…" I frowned at the vocabulary.

Napstablook slightly quivered in his ghostly form. "It's like my whole body is being spooked…" I figured it was time to move onto the next song.

Ghouliday Music was playing now. "Oh, this one…" Cowboy moaned knowingly.

"Is Ghouliday a ghost holiday or something?" I asked to no one in particular. It took me only a few moments to figure out the lyrics.

"Once you learn the lyrics it's not hard to sing along…" Napstablook pointed out, practically reading my mind. He started "Ooo"ing as if to prove it. His interpretation was pretty accurate.

Having had enough for the time being, I shut the music off and headed over to the ghost's orange computer. "Whatcha doing?" Napstablook didn't answer, so I found the answer on my own. The internet browser was opened to a Music-sharing forum.

"He's pretty dedicated to his music." Cowboy informed me, but I was more focused on the browser state.

"You have _internet_?" I asked Napstablook, delighted.

"Uh… yes?" He sounded uncertain with himself, but that's how he always acts anyway.

"How does it work? Where are you getting the internet connection from? Or are you using a hotspot? Does your wifi connection require a password? Do you think-"

"Hey, hey." Cowboy warned me. "Might want to back off a bit. I think Napstablook is getting overwhelmed." Upon closer inspection, I realized Cowboy was right. The ghost looked ready to have a panic attack.

"Um… hey Napsta," I tried to stay calm, as to keep Napstablook calm as well. "I'll ask you more about it some time later, alright?" The ghost nodded feebly, and I backed off and turned around to explore the rest of the house. Internet would have to wait.

There was a large, blue TV. "oh… that's my tv…" I was relieved the ghost was back to talking. "there's a show I like to watch on it… sometimes…"

"Mettaton's shows." Cowboy told me.

"I know." I then headed past the fridge, but Napsta still found a need to comment on it.

"oh… are you hungry… i can get you something to eat…" Then he slowly drifted over and somehow managed to open the fridge door without even physically interacting with it. With that, he closed the door and in front of him there was… nothing. " this is a ghost sandwich… do you want to try it…" Confused, I tried biting the empty air in front of the ghost, though I was pretty sure I phased right through it. "oh… nevermind…"

"But thanks still." I smiled.

"after a great meal, i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage…" Oh, this one! "it's a family tradition… do you want… to join me…?"

"Of course!" I beckoned to Cowboy to join us, although he hadn't eaten anything. And technically I hadn't either, but that's not the point.

"okay… follow my lead…" As the ghost started to tilt sideways onto the ground, I made myself comfortable among the cracked wood tiles. Eventually, Cowboy joined us as well, laying down next to me. "here we go… you'll lie down as long as you don't move. So… only move around when you want to get up, i guess."

So I just lay there, with Napsta and Cowboy lying next to me. At first, I felt nothing but a bit of awkwardness. But then I closed my eyes, and after a while, I began to see the bigger picture. The walls and ceiling seemed to disappear from my vision as I imagined something bigger and beyond me. Large galaxies, stars, planets, all revolving around a huge black universe… and we were just tiny specks in all that. Just tiny, insignificant dots. What a thought.

After a while, I felt a poke on my shoulder. It was Cowboy. "Maybe we should get moving?" He suggested, and I reluctantly agreed. Getting up, Napsta rose with me. "Well… that was nice... Thank you…"

"No, thank _you_."

"Uhhhh…" The ghost looked slightly pink. "i'm going to keep working on that mix cd." He concluded, floating back over to his computer to work.

After biding farewell to Napstablook, Cowboy went around to show me the blue acres, which included all the fun snail experiences that one could enjoy. At the Blook Family Snail Farm, we examined Snails of all colors and shapes, even ones with mustaches, wise words, and dollar bill counting skills. Cowboy and I even had some snail racing. Cowboy encouraged a red snail, while I cheered on the yellow one with glasses. And although Cowboy won with me in second place, I ended up with the largest reward, as to not discourage my snail of her close win. Overall, it was great.

Cowboy and I eventually left, although I could tell we were both reluctant. We talked to Gerson, an old-looking turtle that must've been at least ancient. Although we bought nothing, we did have an interesting conversation, where he explained to us about the Delta Runes and how "King Fluffbuns" used to rule in his old days with his wife, Toriel. I couldn't help hoping that the two lovers would somehow get back together someday.

We traveled on past more signs and echo flowers, with me pausing to read and listen to every one. Cowboy had the patience to wait for me, and he was honestly starting to remind me of Toriel, which made me feel a little sad. After the messages, we went on to solve the puzzles that regarded the mushrooms and grassy, turquoise paths. Apparently, just lightly bopping a mushroom atop its head was enough to light up an entire glow-in-the-dark path. Even without lighting the path, one could always try to guess it, but stepping off the path would result in my feet taking steps to unnecessary places. So most of the time, Cowboy and I stayed careful and wary.

Along the way, we had to fight a couple of monsters, but they were absolutely no problem, as Cowboy was by my side the whole time. With him flexing in his upside-down figure and my wiggling skills, we were able to spare every single monster with ease.

During a fight with Woshua and Aaraon, I noticed how Cowboy wasn't using his gun. I questioned him about this.

"Well, I don't actually want to hurt any monsters." He said it like it was a defense to his innocence. I then asked about his gun. After all, I had been using the Empty Gun in our battle, so where did Cowboy get his? "Oh, this?" Cowboy reached into his pocket and took out a small flip-phone. It took me a moment to recognize it. "Yeah, it's Toriel's phone. I got Alphys to upgrade it for me and everything. Say, don't you have one?"

I shook my head. "I think you're the only one that received a phone directly from Toriel." And it was lucky for him too. Or else he might not even have a gun in the first place.

Cowboy grinned. I swore I could see dimples. "Cool."

Eventually, we made it to the Temmie Village, where we said our hello's to all the Temmies and the lone Bob. They were all absolutely adorable, though seeing four ears on an animal was certainly peculiar. I couldn't help laughing at the spelling of the Tems, and the statue was quite a marvel, which made me wonder who carved it. We made sure to stay away from the allergic Temmie as we sold all our unnecessary items to the store Temmie. His enthusiasm was more than enough to make me smile.

Eventually, we had to leave the village as well. We made it past the purple crystals easily, as Cowboy and I could work together to light a lantern as the other ventured forward to find the next. The next hall was narrow and dark, and I yelped when I found myself stepping back into deep water. Cowboy helped to drag me forward and past the reeds as we approached an Echo Flower. I realized what it was about to say even before it said it.

"Behind you."


	20. Spears of Justice

Suddenly, the hall wasn't so dark anymore. Armored Undyne was behind us, with her spear illuminating the darkness. There was no telling how she had gotten behind us so easily and silently. "...seven." She stated, facing me and almost completely ignoring Cowboy. "Seven human souls. With the power of 7 human souls, our king… king Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity. And give them back the suffering and pain that we have endured."

"And the point is?" Cowboy took a defensive step in front of me. I was surprised at his tone of voice, and his suddenness to speak his mind.

Undyne gave Cowboy a menacing glare, which immediately earned her a withering response. "… Understand, human?" Undyne was speaking to me now, and only me. Cowboy needn't get himself wrapped up in this with me. "This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your soul… Or I'll tear it from your body." She suddenly crouched down, and a second spear appeared in her other hand as she started to approach me. Cowboy was shaking next to me, and I wondered why.

Undyne was very close now. With a raise of her spear, I could already feel my soul starting to come out of me. But I waited.

Suddenly, Monster Kid burst out from the reeds beside us, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Undyne I'll help you fight!" He then paused, before turning to give me and Cowboy a confused look. Cowboy was visibly more relieved now. Monster Kid then looked back to Undyne before turning back to me with an excited expression. "YO! You did it! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you! You've got front row seats for her fight!" I waited for him to figure out the facts. "… wait. Who's she fighting?"

Seeming to have zero patience, Undyne roughly grabbed Monster Kid by the cheek and dragged him out of the hall. "H-hey!" He protested, then he started to whimper. "You aren't going to tell my parents about this, are you?" The two of them were gone.

Cowboy seemed frozen, so I had to wave my hand in front of his face a couple of times to grab his attention. "Hey, you awake? We need to get moving before Undyne comes back, ya know."

Cowboy gave me an empty stare before shaking his head, probably to get thoughts back on track. "Y-yeah. Let's go."

The two of us raced back to a bypassing glowing path of our current hall, which we quickly travelled down. Neither of us had to say anything to let the other know our relief of finally leaving the waist-deep water. When we approached a whole field of echo flowers, I couldn't help gasping in delight. It was absolutely beautiful. Dazzling, mesmerizing. I raced down the path and listened to every single one, and Cowboy listened with me. Some were silent, but if I attempted to follow down a certain path, I could trace an exact conversation. It was about a wish, to go back up to the overworld and to see the stars again.

"What's your wish?" I turned to Cowboy with a questioning glance, still crouching next to the last Echo Flower with him.

"My wish..." Cowboy looked to me for a second before turning his head away quickly. "I-it's kinda personal.

"Oh."

"And…" He twiddled his fingers nervously, "What's your wish?"

"My wish?" I turned my gaze back to the blue flower before me. It glowed vibrantly, encouraging me to answer honestly. "My wish..." What was my wish? Did I even have one?

Cowboy seemed to catch my loss for words. "You don't have a wish?" He guessed.

"I'm not sure I have one though." I admitted.

"What? Come on. Everyone has a wish." He encouraged.

"Well… I guess I do." I agreed. "It's just that... I don't think I'm quite aware of it yet."

"I hope you find it soon." Cowboy stated, and it sounded so sincere, I couldn't help feeling hopeful despite my doubts. We finally chose to leave the flowers behind, but not before Cowboy bent down to whisper something into one. It was probably his wish. I smiled as he caught back up to me.

A long wooden bridge now loomed before us, passing through a long purple cavern. Stalagmites and stalactites rose from far below and hung above us in a threatening manner. As Cowboy and I took our first steps onto the bridge, Monster Kid suddenly caught up to us from behind. It was always a surprise to see him.

"Yo," He started, facing me, "I know I'm not supposed to be here, but… I wanna ask you something."

I sighed knowingly, understanding what he was about to ask. "Ask away."

Monster Kid paused uncertainly. "… Man, I've never had to ask someone this before… Um… Yo…"

Just get on with it. "We're human." I confirmed, casting a glance in Cowboy's direction.

"Haha. Man! I knew it! ...well, I know it now. So, like, um… I guess that makes us enemies or something." His tail wagged uncertainly.

"Can't we just stay friends?" I pleaded, but Cowboy started to pull me away.

"Let's just leave." He advised, but I shook my head stubbornly.

"I mean…" Fortunately, Monster Kid hadn't noticed the exchange I had had with Cowboy. "Undyne told me, um, 'stay away from that human'. But I kinda stink at that, haha. Yo, say something mean so I can hate you? Please?"

I felt my expression harden. Although this had occurred in the game before, experiencing it in real life felt like betrayal. How dare Undyne try to stand between me and Monster Kid's friendship! "Sorry, no can do buddy."

"Yo, what? So I have to do it?"

"You don't have to." I half-pleaded, half-growled.

"Here goes nothing…" He continued hesitantly before declaring, "Yo, I… I hate your guts." Awkward silence. He actually did it. But hey, at least I'm not offended in the least. "… Man, I… I'm such a turd! I'm… I'm gonna go home now." Should I try to stop him? He turned around and started to leave before I could say anything, and in the next moment, he had tripped on a wooden plank and had fallen over the edge of the bridge. I involuntarily gasped, even though I had seen it coming. He was down so low, I couldn't even tell how he was holding on. "Yo, w-w-wait! Help! I tripped!"

I immediately started to head forward to help him up, but Cowboy was holding me back. "Undyne." He whispered. Snapping my head up, I found Undyne starting to board the bridge, giving me the evil eye. Even still, I knew I couldn't leave Monster Kid hanging. Shrugging Cowboy's hold off of me, I ran up to Monster Kid and grabbed ahold of his sweatshirt before dragging him up to safety. With a successful rescue, I immediately backed away, as Undyne had started to approach way too close for comfort.

Monster Kid suddenly stood up to Undyne, standing as tall and straight as he could. ""y...y… yo...dude… If… if y-you wanna hurt my friend… You're gonna have to get through me, first." After a moment's hesitation, Undyne left. I could tell Cowboy was surprised, and equally relieved. Didn't he know how the game's events went? "She's gone…" Monster Kid turned back to me with a thankful expression. "yo, you really saved my skin. Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. we'll just have to be friends instead."

"Your parents?" I suggested.

"… man, I should REALLY go home… I bet my parents are worried sick about me!" Monster Kid made his way to leave. "Later, dude!" Then he left, thankfully not tripping a single time.

Smiling, I turned back to Cowboy. There was a conflicted expression on his face. "What? Shouldn't we get going? We'll have to fight Undyne soon." Cowboy gulped before nodding slowly, and the two of us continued forward. After crossing a very tiny bridge, we approached a huge cave. It was dark inside, and the tops of the rocks spiked upwards menacingly. At the top of one of the spikes was the one and only armored Undyne. She was pretty intimidating.

The wind was howling, and that only filled me with determination. Undyne began to speak. But she was so high up, and the wind was so strong, I could barely hear anything she said. It was only towards the end when she had started screaming could I decipher her words. "SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY? WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE? NGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, the armor that covered her head was off, and it clanked off the side of the cave, leaving ominous echoes. Turning around, Undyne's eye flashed menacingly. With the armor off, I could see more of her features. Blue skin, red eyebrows and hair, not to mention her teeth! Undyne shouted a couple more things at us, which we couldn't hear. Somewhere in the middle, I heard her shout, "IF YOU WERE DEAD!" I couldn't connect her meaning very well, and I could tell Cowboy thought the same way. After she laughed a hearty "Fuhuhuhu," I knew it was time to step forward.

Undyne was lower now, closer to us, as I took a step forward, with Cowboy right behind me. "That's it, then...!" At least I could hear her now. "No more running away! HERE I COME!" Suddenly, the fish woman leaped down onto us, and I was barely able to jump away with Cowboy before my soul was drawn out. Cowboy and I tried to fly away, but my feet felt like they were glued to the ground. But before I could think much on it, Undyne had swiped her spear straight over my soul and Cowboy's. Floating up slowly, I realized that our souls was green now. I tried to fly around, but I was suspended in the air with no control over my movements. I could only wave my arms and legs around freely.

Undyne tossed two spears in our direction, and I feebly caught one of them. Was this our defensive tool? "As long as you're green, you can't escape!" She declared loudly, "Unless you learn to face danger head on, you won't last a SECOND against ME!"

I shook my head. "We don't have to fight." Maybe I could try changing my soul color again?

Undyne grinned, and her expression showed something among the lines of _yes-we-do!_ Then she raised her arm, and the first spears came from above us. They rained down on us slowly, and there weren't many, so I was actually able to deflect all of them with my spear. Cowboy didn't break a sweat. Angry, Undyne held out her fist and shook her head.

"I don't want to fight." I shook my head again.

"Tch!" Cowboy grinned mischievously, "That was easy!" I shot him a look. Was he _trying_ to challenge her?

"Not bad!" She drawled sarcastically, "Then how about THIS?" Arrows started coming down again, and I attempted to swipe at them with my spear. They were faster this time. Right after deflecting those, more of them came in to the sides. I barely managed to keep up to the new way of fighting, so I turned the spear around in my hands to get used to it. Cowboy didn't seem daunted at all. Instead, he continued to challenge Undyne. I was too busy deflecting spears to stop him or tell Undyne my own message of mercy.

Undyne seemed to be thinking of her friends, since she pounded the ground with her fists. It left a few cracks in the ground. "For years, we've dreamed of a happy ending." She proclaimed, sending arrows from alternate sides. I brought my spear back and forth, from my left to my right back to the left again. It was actually hard. The fast arrows weren't helping me either. I shot a glare at Cowboy, but he was too busy challenging Undyne to notice me.

"Is that all ya got, fish-breath?" He shouted loudly, and unashamedly.

"Sunlight is just within our reach." Undyne ignored Cowboy crossly. She flipped the spear impatiently, just waiting for our deaths to happen. The arrows were coming from all sides now. Crap. They were way faster than I would've liked. In the midst of my deflecting, one managed to strike me from behind. It faded of course, but the shot of the arrow reminded me of a much-too-familiar scene on a bridge of me crawling away from Undyne's menacing spears.

Panicking, I started to swing my spear wildly around. That didn't work so well. Arrows seemed to be coming in all directions, and I couldn't hit away any of them. They all struck me with terrible force, strong and relentless. I bit my lip as the familiar feeling of helplessness filled me, and I found myself naturally curling into a ball to block out the pains and the hurt. A last stream of spears hit me straight on, and I yelped with fear.

Cowboy heard my cries and finally looked over to see me beaten up. A shadow of dread seemed to loom upon his face as he stared at me. I wondered what he was thinking of. Then he shook his head before calling to me, "I know you're strong, Frisk! You can do this! Just eat something to restore your HP!"

Although Cowboy was the one causing most of my troubles, I couldn't help feeling bolder at his words of encouragement. I took a deep breath before feebly reaching into my backpack to take out the spider cider. I popped off the cap and took a quick swig. The taste was indescribable, mainly because there wasn't much in the first place. Fortunately, it did not taste like spiders. Although I had no idea what spiders even tasted like in the first place, I was not ready to find out anytime soon.

Wiping my mouth on my sleeve, I tossed the half-empty bottle of cider back into my bag. It felt lighter now. In fact, _I_ felt lighter now. Holding my spear in front of me, I found myself challenging Undyne. No idea where that came from.

Undyne seemed up to the challenge alright, for she started to bounce impatiently, almost like a little kid. "For years we've dreamed of our happy ending. I won't let you snatch it away from us!" The arrows were completely random now, although none were coming from the back. I took a deep breath, repeated Cowboy's words in my head, and took it head-on. I only got hit once, when an unsuspecting arrow came from behind.

Undyne smelled like sushi. Or an angry fish. Kinda a combination of both. She screeched before yelling, "Enough warming up!" _Huh?_ That was just a _warm-up?_ I gulped as the arrows came in, faster faster faster, everywhere and all around. I narrowed my eyebrows and swallowed. _This is just a game._

At the end of the attack, I realized I hadn't earned a scratch. I was just about to jump for joy (in the air, of course) until Undyne put on a mischievous grin. With one swipe of her spear, my soul was red. I blinked for a few moments before I registered what happened. Suddenly from out of nowhere, a spear headed my way at lightning speed. I didn't manage to move aside in time, and I got speared.

Undyne suplexed a boulder, just 'cause she could.

Growling, I prepared myself to challenge her again, but Cowboy shot me a look I couldn't ignore. " _What now_?" I couldn't keep the annoyance from my voice. I hoped Cowboy didn't notice.

When he flinched slightly, I knew that he had. "Your soul's _red_ now. So, _you know_ …" He moved his hand around in circles as if waiting for me to get the point.

I mentally slapped myself as I realized what he said was true. I was so focused on not getting hit, I hadn't even remembered the real tactic for escaping Undyne. "Uh, right." I took a deep breath before flying straight past Undyne.

"HEY!" She shouted. My soul withdrew back into my body, and my feet hit the ground running. There was a river of ice below, and I shivered involuntarily. I looked back for Cowboy, but he was standing right in front of her, arms out defensively. He was keeping her from chasing me.

I stopped. "What are you _doing_?" I shouted at him, incredulous. We had to flee _now_! There was no time to fool around!

He looked back for only a moment. "Keep running! I'll stall for time!"

My mind was whirling. I couldn't think straight right now. Undyne's earlier attacks were getting to me now. "What? Now's not the time to be _heroic._ We need to go _now_!"

"No." Cowboy's answer was firm, and I could see a piteous smile on his face. "Just run. I'll catch up, I promise."

I hesitated. Was Cowboy trying to protect me? I didn't want to face Undyne's spears and arrows again, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

 _No_. I _couldn't_ handle it. I wasn't as strong as I thought. If Cowboy hadn't been there to goad me on, I would've been fried sushi. And he promised he would make it. I gritted my teeth as I forced the answer out. "Fine." Then I slowly backed away before turning around to return to my sprint.

I could hear the two yelling from behind me. " _Move_ out of the way, _brat_! I'm not letting more of you twerps escape! Didn't you hear what I said? You have to face danger HEAD ON!"

"You're going to have to get through me first." The voice was strong, determined.

A screech of anger sounded behind me, and by the time it ended, I was too far away to hear anything else anyway. Heart thumping and thoughts churning, I left the two behind to settle their own battle.

* * *

 **Sorry for the super slow update, guys. Just a heavy procrastinator. Got a heads-up from FaxMachine114, so now I've got a chapter up! :)**

 **From now on, the chapters will come quite a bit slower. So uh... don't panic or something.**


	21. It Shows

I didn't think. I couldn't think. Everything around me was eerily silent. All I could hear was my panting breath and the constant thudding of my feet coming into contact with the ground. My backpack felt heavy upon my shoulders. To my left, there was a huge digital sign, but I was too tired to read it. I didn't care enough to read it. Literally, my brain did not want to function.

I had finally left the cave, and I knew I was leaving Waterfall behind forever. Already, I could feel the heat, seeping into my skin. The rocky ground was a dry orange color, and the air was humid and hot. To the side, I found Sans' post. He wasn't there sleeping.

I crossed a bridge made of wooden planks, surprised that it hadn't been burned to crisp yet or something. At the other side, I was met with a water tank. Seeing it reminded me of how the battle with Undyne was _supposed_ to go.

I made my way carefully over to the water tank. I had no idea how it got here, but I didn't care. I slowly reached for a cup, and put it under the faucet for a drink. I turned it on, and water gushed out in clean streams.

If only my mind was as clear as the water. Just thinking of the things I had done made me feel sick. The only thing I ever did was _run._ Running from Snowdin because I was scared. Running from Cowboy because I wanted to be independent. Running from Undyne, and leaving Cowboy to fare on his own. It was obvious. I was a coward.

My hands felt wet. Blinking, I realized my cup was overflowing. Water spilled over the edge of the cup and made little puddles on the dry ground. _Drip, drip._ It felt good to feel water running over my sweaty hands, but the tank was already half-way empty. Reluctantly, I turned the faucet off and drank my fill from the cup. It was luke-warm, due to the fact it had been roasting in heat for who-knows-how-long. Shrugging, I threw the now-empty cup over my shoulder. I watched as it evaporated in thin air. I couldn't say I was surprised, exactly. All I was afraid of was my body evaporating as well.

Sighing, I plopped down onto the ground next to my puddle. Maybe I should wait for Cowboy? Honestly, it shouldn't take long to defeat Undyne, or even to flee. She was just a fish-lady, after all. And with the confidence that only someone like Cowboy could have, it probably wouldn't make him break a sweat. He should be here soon enough.

I kept waiting. There was no sign of any cowboy hats, and no sounds of shouting or any noise, except for the magma boiling under the cliff path. Just thinking about the lava made me back away from the edge a bit more, just to be on the safe side.

After a while, I decided to use the puddle as my timer. Already, it was evaporating. Once it was completely dry, I would leave, and screw waiting for Cowboy. After all, it wasn't like I could wait forever or anything. My legs sat criss-cross as I peered at the slowly shrinking puddle.

Later, the puddle was gone. Whether from heat rays or conduction within the ground, I don't know. My finger tapped the ground there, and it was still damp. I decided to wait a bit longer.

After what seemed like forever, I tapped the ground again. It was now hard and cracked, like all the other areas around me. It was like a puddle had never been there in the first place. I looked behind my shoulder, desperate for a sign of Cowboy, or even Undyne, but neither were there. A thought of going back to investigate crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it away.

Well, it was time to go. Sighing, I held my backpack straps tightly as I picked myself up. Cowboy had promised to catch up to me eventually, so there wouldn't be any harm in gaining some extra ground before he did. Taking a deep breath and casting one last glance at the water tank, I trudged forward.

Immediately to my left were the Royal Guards. They were bigger than I thought, and their gray armor gleamed from the heat. I decided to avoid them, and scooched to the right as I headed onwards. I ignored the stairs to my right, for I knew they would just lead to the River Person. Ahead, there was a giant white building with the words LAB pasted in red letters above the door. Seeing such a strange laboratory in a place like this filled me with determination.

With renewed strength, I marched right in, the doors opening themselves for me. Inside, it was very dark, which I expected. Placing my hand on the green wall, I moved forward, trying not to bump into anything or slip on the blue-tiled ground. To the left, there was a huge screen that projected light all around, and I tried to ignore it as I went on forwards. I noticed some more objects next to the wall, but it was too dark to see them.

I suddenly stopped when I heard the sound of a door opening. Holding my breath, I waited for the lights to turn on.

It did. My eyes blinked, adjusting to the sudden brightness. Ahead of me, there was a yellow lizard-looking monster with a lab coat on. Of course, this was the one and only Alphys. I held my breath, waiting for her to notice me. In the next moment as she turned around, she did. Her expression morphed into one of shock, and for a moment, I wondered if she was scared. Like all the others in Snowdin.

But in the next moment, her shock turned into excitement as she danced around excitedly, rambling about how I came too early and how she wasn't prepared. Her voice was rather high pitched, and kinda squeaky. I preferred Papyrus' loud tone over this one. But just thinking of the skeleton brothers made me feel sad.

Alphys finally calmed down. "Um…" She started, "H-h-hiya!" Her constant stammering was obviously clear.

"Dr. Alphys?" I guessed, examining the rest of the room and focusing my gaze on the wall in which Mettaton would appear. Should I leave before he arrived, or stay like the game went along?

Alphys gave me a surprised stare, like she hadn't expected me to recognize her or know her name. "Y-yes!" She confirmed, still energized, "I'm-"

"Asgore's royal scientist." I finished for her. She was visibly confused now, and I watched as her eyebrows rose in surprised gesture. "It's okay, I know you're not one of those 'bad guys.' Even though you like to keep an eye on me. Through your console." I raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, waiting for her response.

She blinked at me a couple of times before her face turned into horror. "H-how do you know that?!"

"I figured it out?"

Alphys turned slightly pink, and she started to fiddle around with her round glasses. "I was originally going to stop you, but… watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. S-so, ahhh," She seemed to be looking for the right words. "Now I want to help you!"

"Sure. Guide me through Hotlands and whatever whatnot."

Alphys looked relieved, but then another embarrassed expression crossed her face. "Well, actually, umm, there's just a tiny issue."

"Mettaton, right?" I guessed, ignoring Alphys' expression. "And now he wants to kill me because you added anti-human combat features?" Restating the point itself made me wonder how Ricky made it past the human-killing robot.

Alphys still looked shocked, but she seemed to be getting used to my overbalance of knowledge, so she managed to calm herself down faster this time. "Of c-course, when I saw you coming, I immediately decided… I have to remove those features!"

"But instead, you made a 'teensy' mistake and now he's an…" I searched for the exact words. "...unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood."

Alphys laughed nervously. I could tell she was worried. She suddenly squeaked pitifully, "How do you know all this already?"

"Ricky told me." It was an easy lie, popped right out of my mouth. I was never cut out for a dark blue soul. "But I need to get going before-" The whole lab shook. The ground quivered, the walls groaned, and the stuff on the tables behind me rattled. A couple of things even fell, clattering on the ground.

Alphys gave me a questioning glance, but I knew it was already too late. Another thump sounded throughout the lab. "Did you hear something?" Alphys asked rhetorically, with a positive outlook on her face. She was pretty oblivious to things, I could tell. The thumps were getting faster, stronger, more consistent. Mettaton was drawing close. Realization finally dawned on her face. "Oh no." Suddenly, the lab was covered with a blinding, white light, and I had to shut my eyes. Then everything was dark.

Then a loud, sexy robot voice called out, "OHHHH YES! WELCOME BEAUTIES…" And a spotlight appeared and shone onto the one and only Mettaton. He was literally a big gray box rolling on a single wheel. I wonder how much practice it took for him to learn how to balance so well. Screen displaying a big red "M", he raised one of his gloved hands before speaking into the microphone in his other. "TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!"

Suddenly, the lab was filled with obnoxious music and things went absolutely crazy. Colorful disco balls rose down from the ceiling and shone their flashy lights all around the darkened lab as rainbow-colored confetti rained down from who-knows-where. The ground was now piling from the over-excessive amount of it. I was glad I hadn't left early on. This was literally awesome.

Mettaton waved his arms around in a wildly excited way. The confetti had finally stopped raining, and I was mildly disappointed. At least the disco balls were still spinning. "OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!" As Mettaton gestured to me, a whole new stream of confetti rained down upon me in perfect spirals. I couldn't help leaping up to grasp for them, like an eager cat trying to catch a mouse.

Mettaton clapped just as eagerly, his screen flashing between a light blue and yellow. When the confetti finally stopped, he spoke. "NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS?"

"I have." But he ignored me, of course.

"NO PROBLEM!" He cheered, his screen now flashing a big red "1". "IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY…"

"Or die." I completed for him.

"EXCELLENT!" He congratulated me, and then my soul was drawn out as I was lifted into the air. Alphys could only stare nervously, switching her gaze between me and Mettaton.

"I don't wanna fight!" I shouted, as I wasn't really in the mood for crying. The words "screaming is against the rules" popped into my mind.

"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!" Mettaton suggested, moving to the side to reveal a question board. _What's the prize for answering correctly?_ A timer suddenly appeared beneath the sign, but I couldn't find any multiple choice buttons around me. How the heck I was I supposed to answer? I looked over to Alphys for help, but she only chewed on her claws nervously. Was it possible that Alphys didn't _know_ how to help? Was it possible that Mettaton hadn't even _created_ the multiple choice system yet?

"You're RUNNING OUT OF TIME, DARLING!" The timer was at 10 seconds now.

Well, at least I knew the answer to this one. Sighing, I decided to speak. "More questions." Alphys gave me a thumbs up. Confetti rained down on me, but I didn't have time to celebrate.

"RIGHT!" Mettaton congratulated me, clapping, "SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT! WELL HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!" Another question appeared upon the question board. _What's the king's full name?_

 _Pff._ These were easy. "Asgore Dreemur."

"CORRECT! WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER!" He waved his hand around dramatically, confetti flying. "ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT ME!" _What are robots made of?_

Well if I remembered correctly, it was either sugar&spice, or metal&magic. "Metal and Magic."

"TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH?" More confetti. _The quiz show continues._ "HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!" _Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards…_ I stopped reading as the timer started to tick. I had only read half of the question, and I was already going to run out of time. There was no way I could solve this, and I couldn't remember the exact number either. I was screwed.

I took a wild guess. "1,000 miles?" Wait, was it even asking for miles? Or time?

Too late to change the answer anyway. "WRONG! WRONG!" Mettaton raised his finger and a yellow zap was headed in my direction. I tried to move away, but it followed me like a magnet. As it struck my soul, I felt myself getting electrocuted, and little tingles of electricity raced up and down my body. "WROOOOOOOONG!" His words echoed around in my head, and I tried to block out the pain. When it finally stopped, I could only sigh in relief. Catching my breath, I noticed Alphys' horrified expression.

The quiz show continues. "DON'T 'COUNT' ON YOUR VICTORY…" That was a foreshadowing to the next question, wasn't it? _How many flies are in this jar?_ As the timer started, a jar plopped down right in front of the question board. It was literally filled with flies, and they buzzed around angrily.

Well, I was angry too. Flying down, I snatched the jar and threw it at Mettaton. Unfortunately, it didn't leave a dent. Fortunately, the jar shattered and flies swarmed the metal robot. "FIFTY-FOUR!" I yelled. My OP guessing skills.

"CORRECT! YOU'RE SO LUCKY TODAY!" I blinked at him, the flies slowly drifting away to their own destinations. I hadn't seriously thought that would be the correct answer. Maybe I was lucky. "LET'S PLAY MEMORY GAME." He waved excitedly as a half-picture of Froggit showed up on the question board. _What monster is this?_

"Mettaton."

"I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED!" The picture extended to show the full picture of Mettaton wearing a shirt with a Froggit face on it. "BUT CAN YOU GET THIS ONE?" _Would you smooch a ghost?_

I sighed in relief. Finally some rest. I glanced smugly at the timer, and it started to slowly increase. _60, 70, 80…_ maybe I should wait longer just to tick Mettaton off.

At _100_ , I got bored and decided to answer. After all, I wasn't one for patience. Maybe I just wasn't cut out for the light blue soul either. "Heck yeah!"

"GREAT ANSWER! I LOVE IT!" Mettaton was obviously pleased with my response. "HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE." _How many letters in the name Metattonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…_ I decided to stop reading.

How in the heck was I supposed to answer this? The list of n's just kept getting longer and longer… "100." I sighed.

The zap came again, and my body curled up reflexively. I wasn't feeling very lucky at the moment. "NO NO NO! CAN'T YOU READ!?" I growled angrily. Maybe it would've been a better idea if I had just left in the first place. These questions were rather… _shocking._ (eh heh heh, Sans rly?) I smiled. After all, in times like these, a pun could always lighten the mood. "TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!" I sighed in relief. All the hard questions were gone now, so I should be fine. _In the dating simulation video game "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie" what is Mew Mew's favorite food?_

Before I could even think on it, Alphys started to wave her hands wildly around. "OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM!" Then she launched into one of her long explanations of her favorite anime and how the main character went to the beach to buy icecream for her friends, but got rejected because of the snail flavor it held. She was then about to launch into another parade of morals and friendships until she stopped at Mettaton's waving finger of disapproval.

"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU?" Alphys shook her head nervously, because in truth, she hadn't. "WELL THEN, I'LL ASK A QUESTION… YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!" A new question was on the question board now. _Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?_ The timer was at a standstill, but that wasn't necessary.

It was Undyne, obviously. "Undyne." I smirked playfully.

Alphys turned a bright shade of red as Mettaton wagged his finger playfully. "SEE, ALPHYS? I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS. EVEN THE HUMAN FIGURED IT OUT."

"Who doesn't know?" I inquired.

"YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGIN OF HER NOTES. SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER… SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH-"

"101 Percent." I smiled.

"MARGIN OF ERROR. ONE PERCENT." I couldn't help feeling hopeful. Maybe now, Mettaton and I could get along, and he could stop trying to kill me?

No such luck. "WELL WELL WELL. THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! BUT. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS…!" He then folded up into himself before rocketing away and leaving a gaping hole in the roof, leaving showering debris, wood chips, and some last bits confetti dropping down onto us. My soul retreated back into me as I drifted back to the ground.

Alphys seemed unsure about how to respond. "Well that was certainly something."

"Yeah." I turned my head around to stare at the huge hole in the wall created by Mettaton. The question board was gone now.

"Wait, wait!" She scurried over closer, and I tried not to back off. "Let me give you my ph-phone number! Th-then… m-maybe… If you need help, I could…" She looked so hopeful, I felt bad for raining down on her charade.

"I don't have a phone." Toriel never gave me one. However, Cowboy had one. But just thinking of how I left him behind made me cringe.

"Wh-what?"

"Hey Alphys, you're smart right?" She didn't respond. "So uh, how about you get me one of your cameras? And turn it into a phone as well?"

My question obviously threw her off balance. "H-huh?"

"Your cameras." I repeated, twiddling my fingers. "I want one. To record stuff. And take pictures? You could also make it multi-task, so that I can call people on it as well."

Alphys visibly brightened up. "W-wait a second, please!" Then she hurried away into the other direction, probably to make my request come true. There was first some thumping, then a buzzing sound, and was that a scream? She was heading back now. Well, that was fast.

"Here, I-I upgraded the camera for you, so now it's almost just like a phone!" She handed me a high-tech camera with huge lenses, and it reminded me of Canon cameras. Interested, I opened it to find that the inside had a keyboard and screen, just like a phone! Alphys bounced excitedly at my expression of awe. "It can do texting, items, it's got a key chain…" I looked to the side to see that there was, in fact, a key chain. "I even signed you up for the underground's No.1 social network! Now we're officially friends! Ehehehe! Hehe… heh…" Her laugh slowly faded away as she glanced around nervously. "I'm going to the bathroom." And just like that, she scurried away.

Shrugging, I took the strap hanging off the camera and looped it over my neck so that it could hang out in front of me. Then I turned it on before playing around with the settings to change the view to selfie mode. Aiming the camera in front of me, I squatted down next to a half-full bag of dog food and stuck out my tongue.

I took the picture. It was kinda weird, but it was okay for a first shot. All that mattered was the fact that I now had a new camera.

* * *

 **I feel like going on a writing spree now! :D**

 **If I remember to, I will get a chapter out tomorrow. ;P**


	22. Hotlands

**The promised chapter awaits you! ~**

* * *

After searching the fridge for some instant noodles, admiring myself in Alphys' large-screen camera, and exploring the upstairs, I was ready to go. Exiting the lab, I made my way out the doors. I was back on my narrow cliff-path of dry heat, lava boiling below in a threatening manner.

Only now, had I actually realized just how _hot_ it was. Sweat was starting to gather under my clothes, and my whole body was warm and humid. I was about to pull my sweatshirt off, until I remembered a certain fact. My shirt. I wasn't willing to show that around to everyone, friends _or_ monsters. Reluctantly, I decided to keep it on.

I started to move forward until my camera suddenly beeped. Opening it up, it read: _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Just realized i didn't watch undyne fight the human. v. v_ I was glad she didn't. I was scared, though I didn't know why. Cowboy would be fine. He promised.

 _ **ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Well i know she's unbeatable i'll ask her abt it later ^.^_ I rolled my eyes as I made a left turn down the path. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _For now i gotta call up the human and guide them. =^.^=_ I had almost forgot how annoying her constant status updates were.

I was at a fork in the road now, though it wasn't hard to choose which to follow through with. Blue flames shot out from red pipes to the sides. The wooshing sound of steam and cogs filled me with determination. Approaching a ground of orange pipes, I approached the left path. It was like those escalators in airports, where it made you faster, but it didn't necessarily bring you up or downstairs. Stepping on, I made my way across, careful not to fall into the dark abyss below.

I continued on, crossing the escalator paths, fighting and sparing smaller mobs, and constantly receiving status updates and calls from Alphys. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Gonna call them in a minute! =^.^=_ _ **ALPHYS updated status.**_ _I HATE USING THE PHONE I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS LMAO. ^. ^_ _ **ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Omg ive had my claw over the last digit for 5 minutes. Omg i'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna call!_

I attempted to ignore Alphys as I stepped on the arrow vents. Somehow, they were strong enough to send my whole body flying over chasms to my destinations. They were nice and cool, and the only reason I liked them was to keep the heat away from me. But even still, every leap scared the heck outta me, and I wished that there was someone with me to encourage me or lead me on. Like Cowboy.

Shaking my head, I looked for the Burnt Pan. It wasn't there. Ricky must've taken it already. Shrugging, I headed down the correct path, flying over more vents and chasms. Suddenly, my camera rang with a phone noise. Before I could even reach for it, the ringing stopped. Apparently, Alphys had hung up before I could even answer her. Sighing, I continued on to a right turn.

The camera rang again, and I answered it this time. "Uhh!" Alphys' voice rang from my camera. "H-hi, so, the blue lasers… Uhh! I mean, Alphys here! Hi! The _blue lasers_ won't hurt you if you don't move. O-orange ones, um…"

"I have to move through them." I confirmed, "It's okay Alphys, I already know all this. No need to fuss over it." Before Alphys could respond, I clicked the camera shut to end the call. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _OMG I DID IT! Claws haven't shook like that since undyne called me to ask about the weather… v. v_ Ignoring her and focusing on the task at hand, I looked forward at the lasers. The stretched out along the path, long and impassable. They were too high for me to jump over, yet too low for me to crawl under. I wasn't even sure how that worked.

I moved past the first orange ones easily, an eerie feeling passing through me every time I walked into one. It was like I anticipated something bad to happen every time I walked through or something. As I started to approach the blue laser, I- _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _WAIT THERE'S NO WEATHER DOWN HERE WHY DID SHE CALL ME._ I gasped as I took a step back, narrowly avoiding the laser. Why did Alphys' messages have to distract me so much? Growling, I used my timing skills to get past the blue laser. Standing perfectly still was hard.

Reaching the end, I could only sigh with relief. Hands sweaty, I deactivated the lasers by flicking the red switch on the gray, metal column. The lasers flicked shut. I moved on. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Oh My Gd i Forgot to Tell THem Where To Go._ Nice typing skills there, buddy. _**ALPHYS posted a picture.**_ _CUTe PIC OF ME RIGHT NOW ^. ^_ Now that I was actually in the game, I realized that I could actually see the pictures she posted. Curious, I examined the picture. It was a photo of a garbage can with several pink, glittery filters over it. How in the heck was that Alphys? I looked away.

Turning left, I the path branched off into three different paths. The camera rang. "A-A-Alphys here!" Oh. "Th… the northern door will stay locked until you…"

"Solve the puzzles on the right and left." I finished for her. "Gotcha."

Silence on the other side for a couple of moments. "I… I think you sh-should g-g-go to the right first!" She hung up. Shrugging, I walked up to the steaming vent. Once the arrow pointed to the right, I jumped on. Flying through the air, I landed clumsily on the path and continued onwards.

I ignored the monsters to the side as I headed into the puzzle building. It was purple and brown, and there was a huge blue upside-down heart-shaped hole above the doorway. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Wonder if it would be unfun if i explained the puzzle…_ Inside, I found a monitor screen waiting for me, and an actual 3D puzzle in front of it. Although I could only see the front view of the 3D one, the screen showed me the top view. Approaching it, I swiped my finger across the screen, and found that the blocks would move in the direction I swiped. Not bothering to read the directions or to ask the fox monster for help, I swiped twice and shot twice. It was like playing an arcade game. _Congratulations!_ Easy. Satisfied, I left.

Now to the left. An impassable laser was ahead of me. The camera rang. "Alphys! Here! Th-that blue laser seems totally impassable! B-b-but! As the Royal Scientist, I h-have some tricks up my sleeve!"

"Deactivate it?" I inquired.

"U-uh… yeah!" She hung up, and the laser deactivated as well. Ignoring the monster school girls, I made my way into the puzzle room. This one was harder, but not much. After four swipes and two shots, I was done. _Congratulations!_

Making my way up the path now, and the great purple doors opened for me. Smiling, I passed through. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _Whatever! I'll just explain it!_ Right after, the camera rang. But this time, I spoke first. "I already finished the puzzles."

Silence on the other side. "...uhhh, you already s-solved them? Awesome!" The enthusiasm sounded faked. With a click, she hung up. Red heat waves rising from below and sweat increasing upon my brow, I boarded on a vent. I landed on two more vents before reaching a bright, lit up path. It was white, like a kitchen floor. I could tell what was coming.

Moving forward, all light suddenly dissipated. Everything was black, and dark. I was scared to move forward. The camera rang, and Alphys' voice rang out, "H-hey, it's kind of dark in there, isn't it?"

I nodded slowly, then remembered I was speaking to a phone. "Yeah…"

"Don't worry!" She reassured me, "I'll hack into the light system and brighten it up!" A few seconds later…

A kitchen. I was in a kitchen. In front of me was a simple brown counter with a board, purple bowl, and sink. Behind me, there was a fridge, more counters with food items, a microwave, a stove, spices propped on the shelves attached to the walls, and yellow-faded curtains drawn back to display a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds. I wasn't fooled. We were underground, and Mettaton was about to make his appearance.

"Oh no." Alphys' voice rang from the camera. Then suddenly from right under the counter, Mettaton rose. I almost leaped out of my socks.

"OHHHH YES!" He announced, a chef hat atop his his metal frame, "WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!" Above us, cursive words written in pink were displayed above us. Sparkles showered down on us as I read the sign: _Cooking with a Killer Robot._ Absolutely terrific. The sign faded away.

"PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY!" I tried to back away and escape, but a blue force-field was keeping me from leaving my fate. "WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING… A CAKE! MY LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!" As Mettaton clapped, more confetti rained down on me in little circles. I could get used to this. "WE'LL NEED-"

"Sugar, milk, and eggs." I headed to the back counter. "Right?"

"GO FOR IT, SWEETHEART!" I decided escaping would do me no good, so I took the eggs, placed the milk carton on top, with the bag of sugar piled onto that. I considered going to the right, just to see if I could get ahold of the can for the human-substitution, but thought better of it. I wanted to see what it was like to ride a jetpack. I brought the necessary stuffs to the counter and plopped them all down, keeping a few yards away from the human-killing robot.

"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, BEAUTIFUL! WE'VE GOT ALL THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK… SUGAR… EGGS…"

"You're forgetting something." I guessed.

"...OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET! WE'RE MISSING THE MOST _IMPORTANT INGREDIENT_!" Suddenly he stopped, and I took it as my cue to step even further away from him.

Mettaton lifted his arm, a chainsaw in hand. I had no idea where that had popped out from. I wasn't watching. "A _HUMAN SOUL_!" Screen flashing red and yellow, he slowly approached me, filling me with a kind of dread and terror. Who wouldn't be scared of a killer-robot chef approaching you with an orange chainsaw?

Suddenly, the camera rang. "HELLO…?" Mettaton asked sarcastically, "I'M KINDA IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE."

"W-wait a second!" Alphys was here to save the day. "Couldn't you make a… Couldn't you use a… Couldn't you make a substitution in the recipe?!"

"...A SUBSTITUTION? YOU MEAN, USE A DIFFERENT, NON-HUMAN INGREDIENT?" Mettaton seemed to think on it. "…WHY?"

"Uhh, what if someone's… Vegan?" Alphys was getting desperate now, and I could hear it in her voice.

"... VEGAN." For a moment, I thought Mettaton sounded disbelieving.

"Uh well I mean-"

"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA, ALPHYS! ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE! MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! A CAN OF WHICH…"

"Is just over on that counter."

"WELL, DARLING? WHY DON'T YOU GET IT?" I started to head over to fetch the red can, but the counter was already rising. I watched as the can rose, far far above my head. Completely unreachable.

Mettaton spoke to me from behind. "BY THE WAY, OUR SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN IN THE NEXT _ONE MINUTE…_ WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE _ORIGINAL PLAN_!" I could only stare at the daunting task ahead of me. "SO… BETTER START CLIMBING, BEAUTIFUL!" He then lifted into sky by who-knows-how.

The camera rang. "Oh no! There's not enough time to climb up!"

"Right. Jetpack." I opened up the camera to find a secret panel I hadn't noticed before. Flipping it up, I found three buttons. JETPACK, DEFUSE, and a yellow button with no label. There were some other smaller buttons to the side, but I didn't pay them any attention. Obviously, the bigger buttons were going to help me in the later battles with Mettaton. But for now…

I pressed the JETPACK button. The camera suddenly lifted straight into the air before morphing into a jetpack. It was combination of splitting and expanding. With jetpack created, I shrugged off my backpack and picked the jetpack straight out of the air before strapping it on. How was I supposed to start it? Was there another button to press?

"There!" Alphys confirmed, speaking from the jetpack. "You should have just enough fuel to reach the top! Now, get up there!" Then the jetpack started, and I was up in the air.

It wasn't as bad as I suspected, but not as fun either. My control over my flight direction was minimal, yet just a slight tilt was enough to direct my movements as I rose up. For the first few moments, I adjusted myself to get used to the feel of a jetpack on my back.

Once I was used to it, it felt exhilarating. Wind through hair, body rushing up at unimaginable speeds. I smiled and raised my arms, letting out a shout of pure joy.

Mettaton finally appeared, first throwing down little brown pellets that looked like peanuts. It took me a moment to realize they were the _eggs_. Feeling panicked since I didn't want egg yolk all over me, I dodged them best I could. I felt obvious relief when that attack was over. Every once in awhile, Mettaton would come flying in with a bag of flour, poofing it so clouds of stuff would come down on me. They were _literally_ like clouds, and the only reason I avoided them was to keep myself from turning into a white cloud myself. Now he was pouring stuff out the milk carton, though it looked too solid to be milk. It looked more like flour, but I tried to avoid those too, just in case. I got a couple of close calls, but it was all good. I didn't get hit once, thankfully.

I finally reached the can, but before I could even reach for it, Mettaton started to speak. "MY MY. IT SEEMS YOU'VE BESTED ME." A little flame was ablaze beneath him, and I guessed it was what was keeping him up. He was still wearing the chef hat, and I laughed lightly. "BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU'VE HAD THE HELP OF THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS! OH, I LOATHE TO THINK WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED TO YOU WITHOUT HER! WELL, TOODLES!" He left.

Then came back. "OH YES! ABOUT THE SUBSTITUTION… HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A COOKING SHOW BEFORE?"

"You already baked the cake ahead of time." I guessed.

"SO FORGET IT!" Mettaton responded irritably before leaving. This time, he didn't come back. Then without even retrieving the can, I found myself floating back to the ground. It only took four seconds. Confused, I scratched my head in thought. Hadn't it taken me a whole minute to get up there? Then how did I get back down in a mere few seconds?...

Shouldering the jetpack off, it changed back into my camera before ringing. "Wow! We… we did it! We… we really did it!" That was Alphys.

I smiled slightly. "Yes, we did."

"Great job out there, team!" Alphys had never sounded so happy before, and it made me feel happy too. "W-well, uh, anyway, let's keep heading forward!" She hung up, and I could only shake my head in amusement before putting the camera's strap back around my neck.

Figuring it was a good time for a picture, I turned to the kitchen and snapped one. Satisfied, I then put my backpack back on, heading forwards. Hopefully, my next encounters with Mettaton would be just as fun as this one.

* * *

 **So just wondering, but what do you guys think are happening to the rest of the characters? Do you think Elaine is still stuck in the Ruins with James, or if Joyce is still hanging out with Cinder, or if Cowboy made it away, or if Ricky had even approached Asgore yet?**

 **And thank you guys so much for all your reviews! You're all awesome! :D :D**


	23. A Frank Chat

**OMG Why are all of you so _good_ at telling the future? I was amazed by the amount of precision you guys put into your theories... and how close they are to how the actual events are going to occur. :) Well anyways, thanks for your insight! You can read on now~**

* * *

Moving on, I could already see an ominous structure looming in the distance. It filled me with determination. After all, it meant I was close. To the core.

 _Ring…_ "S-see that building in the distance?" It was Alphys again.

"It's the core, isn't it?" I guessed.

"The source of all power for the underground." She confirmed, this time not affected by my superior knowledge at all. "It converts geothermal energy into magical electricity, by…" She seemed to realize my incapability to understand science, so she stopped. "Uhh, anyway, that's where we're going to go."

"Terrific." It _totally_ didn't look intimidating, with all those huge pipes, little wires hanging about, and those red heat waves making it look like some kind of evil mansion. Or volcano.

"In the CORE is an elevator directly to ASGORE's castle. And from there… you can go home." With a finality in her tone, she finally hung up, but my thoughts were scrambled. _Home?_ Was that where I was headed?

Well, basically it was, if I continued the way I was going. But was it really where I wanted to go? I came down here, in Undertale, for a reason. A purpose. To enjoy the joys of being with the game characters I love. I wasn't going to leave it just like _that_. So where _was_ I headed?

I guess I would figure that out after I got there.

Moving along, the CORE slowly faded away behind me, and I was met with a long, cylindrical elevator. Pasted above the doorway were the words R1. Pressing the elevator button, the doors opened and I headed in, examining my choices. All of the floors were available, except for floor R3. It looked like Ricky had already unlocked all the floors for me, except for the last one? Confused, I shook my head. Musing over my choices, I finally decided my destination to Right Floor 2. I had something to do there. The doors closed with a ding, and the elevator resumed its bumpy ride up. I could barely keep my balance. Just before I felt like falling over, the doors opened with another ding. I was out before the doors even fully opened.

Outside, there was a little flame monster. "Heh. I'm _Heats Flamesman._ Remember my name!" His little flames burned brighter.

"I won't forget." I smirked, making my way forward. I was then met with three other monsters. But I only cared about one of them. Rushing forward, I met Sans at his hotdog station. Seeing snow on the roof of his station made me chuckle. I really had no idea how it got there, or how it was still there. After all, we were in the middle of Hotlands, weren't we?

"Hi!" I squeaked. I was probably acting just a bit too excited, but hey, what can I say? He's a cool dude. And I haven't seen him in forever.

"Hey buddy, what's up?" His comical grin was still on, and it made me want to think of puns. I was undoubtedly glad to see him. He seemed excited to see me as well, but it looked like he was trying to hide it. "Wanna buy a hot dog? It's only 30G." I didn't care. Hot Dog or Hot Cat or what. This was Sans we're talking about here. Reaching into my pocket, I took out the correct amount and handed it to him. "thanks, kid. Here's your 'dog." As he handed me the hot dog, I gave him a look. "Yeah. 'dog. Apostrophe-dog. It's short for hot-dog." I blinked at him for a few moments before taking the 'dog from him. My hand slightly brushed his bony one as I took it, and I felt myself turning pink. I wondered why that was.

Feeling determined, I looked back at him. For some reason, I found it hard to focus on his eye sockets without diverting my eyes. "Another one?" He eyed me warily. "I'm holding too much." I informed him.

His grin widened. "You're holding too much." He repeated. "...guess i'll just put it on your head." Now _I_ was grinning. Leaning forward, I allowed him to place a hotdog upon my head. I could feel the weight of it, pressing down my hair. I wondered if it would turn my hair greasy. For the time being, I could balance it.

"Another." I demanded.

Sans put another one on my head. "Here's another hot dog. It's on the house." Then he frowned as he realized his point was incorrect. It made him look funny. "Well, no. it's on you."

"Another?" I suggested, attempting to hold myself still.

"Here. have fun." He sounded slightly amused at my antics.

"More."

"Well here. Have fun."

"Keep going. Until thirty." I demanded. I listened to Sans chuckle. It made me feel warm. I had to balance those hotdogs! For him.

He kept going. And going. And going. Later, he had to stand on the sentry post. Afterwards, he climbed onto the roof. I couldn't see how he put on more hotdogs after that, since I was afraid to move my head. I was not removing his hard work. Taking slow breaths to steady myself, I felt the hotdogs wave above me, threatening to topple over.

Finally, Sans stopped. He grinned at the hotdog pile upon my head, humour lighting up his gaze. I gritted my teeth as I spoke in a controlled tone, "Why'd you stop?"

"I'll be 'frank' with you." He conceded as I smiled at his pun, "as much as i like putting hotdogs on your head… thirty is just an excessive number. Twenty-nine, now that's fine, but thirty…"

I frowned at him. "What's so bad about thirty?" Oh crap, I was losing control over my balance now. I straightened myself up, keeping the stack of hotdogs steady above me.

"Does it look like my arms can reach that high?" He questioned, like it was obvious.

"No, but you managed quite well for twenty-nine, so thirty should be fine too."

"Sorry kiddo, but thirty is the limit on hot-dogs." He winked playfully, and I rolled my eyes.

Bad move, that one movement was enough to rid of my entire balance on the 'dogs, and they toppled down like rain. It was raining hot dogs. I could only watch in awe as they all fell in beautiful piles. Some landed on the ground, others went off the cliff just to get burned in the lava. A few fell in a nearby Vulkin's volcano top. He looked absolutely delighted.

Sans didn't seem the least bit affected by the amount of wasted hot dogs. Instead, he just looked chillax. Maybe even a bit amused.

I tried to think of a topic to discuss. The first thought that popped out of my mouth was, "So what's the meat of hot dogs made of?"

Sans gave me a look that made me wish I hadn't asked anything. Then he shrugged before answering, "something called a… 'water sausage'." He seemed nonchalant.

"Oh." I grinned. "I didn't think skeletons were that smart, but turns out you're not a _numbskull_ after all." Only after saying it did I realize how mean it sounded.

Sans gave me another look. "That was terrible, kid."

I raised an eyebrow. "C'mon. Throw me a bone here. I'm tired."

And then his grin stretched wider. Obviously, a pun was brewing under that expression of his. " _Bone_ -tired?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Yeah. That." Now enough about me. I didn't want to talk about it. I was afraid we would delve too deep. "So, how are _you_ doing? You haven't been selling hot dogs this whole time, have you?"

He was still grinning, but I could tell he was suddenly uneasy. Was something wrong? "Well, you know. the usual. hanging out with Paps. goin' to Grillby's." I could tell he was lying about something.

I leaned forward to watch his expression. "And how's Joyce? Still following you around?"

"Oh. That." He seemed reluctant to answer, and it looked as if he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Don't lie."

"Fine." His gaze was back on me. "She's not around anymore. 'headed on."

"Headed on?"

"She went ahead. left us in Snowdin. Cinder left not much longer after her, 'though i could tell she was reluctant. i was surprised Paps took it so lightly. he told her to come by and visit."

The two already left Snowdin? Why? How was Cinder willing enough to leave Papyrus just to continue? What was her purpose? Was Cinder just trying to follow Joyce? Or did she have something else to do? And had Joyce given up trying to chase after Sans? Or was she just scared of being found out about her crimes? Questions swarmed my mind, and I even felt a little dizzy from it. Or maybe that was just the heat. It sure was hot. "Did you _directly_ say goodbye to Joyce?"

"Nah." He didn't clarify. So it could mean one of two things. Either Joyce hadn't actually left yet and was hiding somewhere, or maybe she was moving onwards. Somewhere in the waterfall, I'm guessing. Unless Sans was lying. But he wouldn't. Would he?

I sighed, but didn't push. There wasn't much else for me to ask for anyway. Tapping my fingers on the wood, I decided to prod elsewhere. "Well, you still didn't answer my first question." Sans frowned, and I clarified, "You only talked about how the others were doing. But what about you?"

Sans seemed to be in thought. Once again, his white pupils were off of me. "A lot less excitement without you three around. Paps is always there, but… it's not the same, I guess."

He had still avoided the question. "How are _you_ doing?"

His gaze was concentrated elsewhere. He didn't answer or anything, just suggested, "Maybe an exchange." He shrugged, grinning, "Tell me what's up with you, and I'll answer."

I huffed before leaning back. "That's an unfair trade."

"But you're curious, aren't ya?" His pupils flicked around playfully, and his skull was now rested onto his hand. Obviously, he was amused.

Yes, I _was_ curious. But was it enough to tell him what had occurred lately? Well, I only had to say how I was doing, minus telling any actual events. Maybe telling my thoughts to someone else wouldn't be so bad. It would be like lifting a weight off my back. Especially if it was just Sans. I could trust him.

I decided to be as vague as possible, thinking of what to say. I gulped before speaking. "Scared." But not of monsters. "Uncertain." Where was I even headed? "Guilty." _Very._

"Just three words?" Sans raised an eyebrow, which was weird since last I checked, skeletons had no eyebrows. "Not very specific."

"Well I just said how I was doing." I huffed. "That was the agreement." I hoped he wouldn't judge me on what I just told him.

"So it's only fair for me to use three words as well, right?"

I thought on it, prodding my chin. A few moments later, I nodded. "Fine. If you want."

"Okey." He turned away from me, and lifted his arms behind him so that his head and neck could rest on it. I heard him inhale a breath, and I waited for him to speak. A few seconds later, he only stated simply, " 's real lonely."

I blinked, and in that exact moment, he chose to disappear.

* * *

Still confused by Sans' answer, I had attempted to call Papyrus for clarification. When I told him Sans _was_ at his station (since he wasn't anymore), Papyrus immediately replied with, "WHAT? MY BROTHER'S ACTUALLY AT HIS STATION?" I clarified that he was selling hotdogs, not actually working. "BUT SOMEHOW, HE'S SELLING HOTDOGS INSTEAD?" I could tell I had only made Papyrus more confused. "SLACKING OFF BY DOING WORK… TRULY MY BROTHER IS A MASTER." Before I could even question him for the real reason of my call, he had hung up.

Now I was continuing on a bit more to check and see if the apron had been taken yet. I doubted Ricky would've had any kind of taste of fashion for aprons with hearts on them, so there was a chance that he could've left it. Along the way, I received quite a few messages from my monster friends.

 _ **ALPHYS posted a picture.**_ _Dinner with the girlfriend. ;)_ It was just a picture of some kind of catgirl figurine standing next to a bowl of instant noodles. Obviously, I couldn't take Alphys seriously. _**CoolSkeleton95 posted a picture.**_ _ARE WE POSTING HOT "PICS?" HERE IS ME AND MY COOL FRIEND._ Staring at the picture, I immediately fell into laughter and giggles. It was a simple picture of Papyrus flexing in front of a mirror. He was wearing black sunglasses, trying to look cool. The giant muscular biceps pasted onto his arms were wearing sunglasses too.

As my laughter died away, I could only shake my head in amusement. _**ALPHYS updated status.**_ _LOL, CoolSkeleton95! ...that's a joke, right?_ _ **CoolSkeleton95 updated status.**_ _THE ONLY JOKE HERE, IS HOW STRONG MY MUSCLES ARE._ Smiling, I made the turn required to retrieve the apron. _**NAPSTABLOOK22 has sent you a friend request.**_ Frowning, I started to accept the request, but it seemed like it had already rejected itself...

Frowning deeper, I headed straight to the apron. It was a faded orange, and in the middle was an another orange heart, but in a bolder color. This was what I was looking for. I took the backpack off and shrugged off my sweatshirt, immediately feeling the relief of exposed skin. Quickly, I snatched up the Stained Apron and tied it around me to block the designs on my short-sleeved shirt.

Then, curious, I opened up the camera to look for the dimensional box button. Finding the 2nd one, I aimed the camera at my backpack and sweatshirt, pressing it. Suddenly, a beam lighted onto the objects, and a moment later, they had disappeared. Blinking, I stared at the camera. It said, _items acquired._

I had no idea how a camera had managed to stow away my items with a single beam ray, but I didn't question it. Once you've spent enough time with talking monsters and killer robots, you get used to those kind of things. Maybe it was just magic or something.

I started to head back to the elevator R2. There were no more texts, status updates, or pictures posted. Figures. Along the way, I had to fight a couple of other small mobs, but I didn't mind very much. They helped to distract my thoughts. A fight with Pyrope only caused me to become even more grateful for the apron.

Sans wasn't back at his station. Sadness swarmed in the pits of my stomach as I thought of him and how he had left. I still didn't understand. Why was he _lonely_ , of all things? He still had Papyrus with him, after all…

I finally reached the end of the path, and pressed the elevator button. The doors dinged open and I stepped in, choosing my destination for L3.


	24. A Sticky Situation

I was here. Already, things looked different. I could no longer see the lava below anymore. Small, red gears turned in the distance. Instead of standing on dry cracked ground, I was now on a purple platform outlined in red. The platform stretched outward, creating a path forwards.

I followed it down, and was met with Muffet's one and only bake sale. Cobwebs were hanging off the ceiling. Although I had no arachnophobia, seeing Muffet was still quite a sight. Waving her eight legs around, she could only be seen as intimidating. All her five eyes blinked at me as I approached her pink checker-patterned table. A rubbery donut and croissant that looked like a powerful bracelet were on display.

"Welcome to our parlor, dearie~" She giggled innocently, her little ribboned hair tails bobbing, "Interested in some spider pastries? All proceeds go to real spiders~"

I stared at her. She stared back. Although she resembled a spider, it was still hard to find the connection. Besides the eyes and many legs, she looked like any normal monster being. Short black hair, slightly purple-tinted skin, and old-fashioned clothes, red and poofy. It made me wonder if I could talk to her, convince her maybe, that I couldn't buy anything due to the fact that I had not enough money? Maybe I could prevent a misunderstanding early on, to avoid any fight encounters at all.

Muffet was still staring at me. She licked her lips. Creepy.

But then, I remembered. I still had a half-full bottle of Spider Cider and a Spider Donut with a couple of bites in it. That would definitely be enough to convince Muffet during the battle. There was no need to cause extra trouble now. I nodded quickly at her before turning away to march past the webs. I ignored the green monster in yellow, afraid of the expression he would give me as he admitted to buying the spider pastry forced upon him.

Well I wasn't going to fall for it. 9,999G for _any_ item was already ridiculous.

I moved on to find a million platforms and steam vents. The camera rang. "Hi! Alphys here. For this puzzle, you'll have to…" She suddenly stopped. I thought I heard some kind of cursing on the other end. "Uh… you're at this puzzle already? Y-you sure are fast!" She laughed nervously.

"I used the elevators." I informed her.

Silence on the other end. "Well, uh… there are two puzzles to the north and south… You'll have to solve them both to proceed!"

"Ok."

"And uh… wait! I have an idea!"

"Hm?"

"Let's be friends on UnderNet! Then you can just ping me when you need help… wait, we're already friends, aren't we?" Uneasiness suddenly clouded her voice. "I signed you up, didn't I? You've been reading my posts the whole time..."

"I've never watched Mew Mew 2 before, so I can't say whether I like it or not." More silence. Oh wait a second. "Uh… nevermind." I hung up. I hoped she hadn't caught my slip. She hadn't told me about Mew Mew 2 yet, so… I wasn't supposed to know about it. Oh well.

I stepped onto a vent and resumed my flying around in the air. I first headed to the north, but only to find that it was already done. Was it possible that Ricky had already done it? Or had Alphys just forgotten to reset this puzzle?

Well, no matter. Shrugging, I guessed that the South puzzle would be done as well, so I moved on to the east. My guess was right, and the exit doors were already open. Obviously, Alphys had forgotten to establish the puzzles here, so they were already all done by Ricky.

I entered a doorway surrounded by a purple wall. Then suddenly, little strands of something started to appear, first a bit from the ceiling, then pooling around in small clumps on the ground. At first I thought it was string, but that wasn't it. Little spiders hung from the ceiling as well, going up and down their spindly webs. The smell of cobwebs filled the air, and I was filled with determination.

Avoiding the clumps of cobwebs, I made my way forwards. "Ahuhuhuhu… Did you hear what they just said?" Crap, Muffet. Her voice was high pitched and squeaky, like a little girl's. Yet there was a strange drawl to it that made it sound creepy. "They said a human wearing an apron will come through." Well that dialogue was different. I carefully made my way over another clump of cobwebs. "I heard that they _hate_ spiders." Darn, there was just too many. It looks like I'll have to walk through it now?... "I heard that they love to stomp on them." I made a face of disgust as I slowly trudged through the webs, feeling them pull me down. They were sticky, and clung to my pants. "I heard that they like to tear their legs off." I groaned when I realized I couldn't move anymore. It was literally a cobweb overload, and all the little sticky strands were all over my feet. I attempted to raise my foot, but it refused to budge. "I heard…" Muffet suddenly arose from a nearby cobweb, failing to suppress a mischievous grin. Spiders scurried from the ceiling, walls, and onto the cobwebs. It was hard not to flinch.

"That we're awfully stingy with our money?" I attempted a grimace smile, "Yeah, I get that a lot." Especially from money-loving spiders.

"Ahuhuhuhu… Well this one's _zesty_." She raised two of her spider arms up, looking apologetic. "You think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, deary? Ahuhuhu… I disagree with that notion."

I shook my head. "They're fine, it's just that you make them way too expens-"

"I think your taste…" Muffet interrupted me, goading the spiders closer. "Is exactly what this next batch needs!" A giggle, and suddenly my soul was out.

I floated into the air, but I found my legs to be literally immobile. They were stuck together like glue. I decided not to attempt to pry them apart, as that may result in getting my hands stuck to it as well. I stared at Muffet, watching her wave her arms as she held her teacups and saucers. She did not seem to pity me at all. Sighing, I knew I was trapped.

"Don't look so blue, my deary~" Suddenly, a purple liquid dripped out of both of her teapots, and I realized what was happening. I attempted to fly away, but the droplets of purple liquid surrounded me in a circle. With no choice, I stayed still as the bits of stuff were absorbed into my red soul. A peculiar sensation prickled through me, and I closed my eyes.

My soul was purple now. Blinking, I found myself standing on a thin purple web, my soul floating not next to my chest, but closer to my feet. I suddenly realized the strange web was dangerously thin. I tried to gain my balance by waving my arms around, only to realize that they were encased with purple cobwebs as well. And don't forget my legs, who are also completely incapable of movement. I found myself dangling dangerously to falling over into the dark pits below. "...I think purple is a better look on you!" Muffet proclaimed before laughing a hearty, "Ahuhuhu~"

Okay, that enough. I'm just going to take out a spider pastry and get this over with… except that I can't. My hands were strapped down with cobwebs, and my camera was out of reach. It was still hanging around my neck, but was now strapped down as well. This was ridiculously gross. A spider approached on a nearby web to show me a sign, but I ignored it. I struggled against the strands, but Muffet only covered her mouth and giggled at my failed attempt.

"Why so pale?" She asked mockingly, "You should be proud~" Suddenly, large white spiders started to appear on the thin web next to me, and when those were gone, a couple more appeared on the other strand next to me. With a quick glance, I realized that spiders were starting to come down my line of web as well!

Great, now I just had to figure out how this worked. Before they hit me, of course. I attempted to move, but nothing happened. Well _duh_ , I was covered in purple cobwebs. The spiders were closer now. I needed to think quick. So maybe I could move by telling my soul?

I did just that, only to suddenly lurch onto the web line next to me, allowing the attacking spiders to pass by. There was just only one thing puzzling me, why was I standing on the cobweb sideways?

By sideways, I meant literally in that direction. It was like gravity had suddenly stopped working, and was now pulling in the direction to my right instead. Or unless… the gravity was pulling towards the webs themselves? I attempted to shift my soul around slightly, and found myself able to gain my upright position again. I could make this work. I practiced a bit more, transferring onto onto other web lines and avoiding more white spiders. The web lines were like planets, and my soul was like a meteor. I could go into orbit or attract to any of the webs, but once I changed to a different web, I would stay firmly attached there like gravity was pulling me down.

The purple soul was pretty cool. I wondered what Joyce thought about it.

Suddenly, the spiders around me started to clap. Not in an applauding way though, of course, but more in a kind of rhythmic pattern. All their little moving legs clapping in synchronization kind of creeped me out. Sticking my tongue out at them, I struggled on the bonds holding me again. Muffet only laughed and clapped her hands in a happy way. "...Proud that you're going to make a delicious cake~ Ahuhuhu~"

Agh, more spiders. I attempted to avoid all of them, directing my soul to the places it needed to go. It really wasn't that bad, once you had gotten used to it. Although the "getting strapped down by purple webs" part kinda sucked.

This time when a spider showed up with a sign, I payed attention. On it, it read _Up Next_ , and displayed two consecutive spiders. Whatever that meant. Taking it as a courtesy, Muffet placed a teacup on a cobweb not to far in front of me and poured me a cup of spiders. Even if I had wanted it, it wasn't like I could drink it. My hands were still strapped down to my sides.

I decided to not to struggle, since it could be used later if I ever wanted to resort to money. For the time being, I was just gonna shout a lot. "Let me go!" At least Muffet had been kind enough not to tie down my mouth.

"Let you go? Don't be silly~" I noticed that the spiders were coming down the webs in pairs now, and figured that it had been what the sign meant. "Your soul is going to make every spider very happy~~~" Even more spiders, and this time there were bouncing rubber donuts as well. I couldn't tell what they were bouncing off of, probably other cobwebs or something. I dodged those best I could, once resorting to hanging upside down on one of the web strands to avoid the attack.

Muffet was now doing a synchronized dance with the other spiders. All of them were performing the same moves at the same time, it was really kind of creepy. Everything about Muffet was creepy. The way the spiders followed along made me think she was a Queen Bee or something. "Oh, how rude of me! I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet~ It's breakfast time, isn't it? Have fun, you two~" Uh oh.

The cobwebs below me started to shake, and then they moved. I immediately felt my balance disappearing, panicking as spiders started to head onto the web in patterns that seemed impossible to dodge. In the midst of my panic, my leg ended up hitting a spider. It hurt.

Now with a sore leg, the shaking of the web lines finally stopped. I had thought the attack was over, but it wasn't. From the end, a spider monster suddenly appeared. It was like a huge cupcake, except eight legs were growing straight from it. As it burped, I noticed its sharp teeth.

Then the lines shifted, and started to move downwards, leading me down to the cupcake monster's hungry mouth. Feeling my skin crawl, I goaded my soul onwards. Spiders occupied every web, and all this moving and shifting around was starting to make me nauseous. The cupcake monster was closer now.

Just when I thought I would become breakfast for a hungry human-eating cupcake-spider monster, the attack was over. I could only stand on my thin spider strands in relief. All this balancing practice was really going to help me someday.

"The person who warned us about you…" Muffet started, allowing me a minute to avoid spiders and donuts alike. "Offered us a LOT of money for your SOUL." She let off a scent that smelled like freshly baked cobwebs.

I sniffled. Apparently, Muffet didn't know about the "spare monsters and get free money" policy. "Let me guess… It was also because they had a sweet smile?"

"Such a sweet smile~" Muffet agreed. "And… ahuhu~" Now to add on to more of my troubles, croissants started flying in from the side. I figured getting hit by one wouldn't be so bad, but I avoided those too, just in case.

Muffet was still dancing with her spiders. "It's strange, but I swore I saw them in the shadows… Changing shape…?"

"Seriously?" I shook my head, disbelief crowding my expression, "You made a deal with a person you haven't even physically _seen_? What in the heck?"

Muffet ignored me. Obviously, she was willing to do anything for even the _idea_ of money. "Oh, it's lunchtime, isn't it?" Didn't she say it was breakfast time just minutes ago?... "And I forgot to feed my pet~" Oh no, not the shaking again. I regained my balance as the webs started to shift left and right, spiders crawling down in patterns I could now recognize. It was still ridiculously fast though.

The creepy "pet" was back again, and after a quick burp, he was back to chasing me up splindy webs. He looked pretty desperately hungry. Which made me wonder what Muffet even fed him. That is, if she even fed him at all. She had already "forgotten" to feed him twice already…

The attack finally ended. "With that money, the spider clans can finally be reuntied~" I wasn't exactly sure I wanted that. Just Muffet was already a bit much. Spiders attacked again, but I avoided them easily this time. I was getting used to it.

Muffet took my silence as a question. "You haven't heard? Spiders have been trapped in the _Ruins_ for generations!" Did she mean _those_ spiders? The ones that handed me a 7G Spider Donut? Speaking of donuts, here are a couple now. They bounced around me, I dodged them. Muffet poured me another unnecessary cup of spiders. "Even if they go under the door, Snowdin's fatal cold is impassable alone. But with the money from your SOUL, we'll be able to rent them a heated limo~"

"Only enough to _rent_?" I teased. Muffet did not seem to take a liking to my sarcasm, so she sended more spiders at me. "And with all of the leftovers…?" She seemed to be in thought before putting on a dreamy expression. "We could have a nice vacation~ Or even build a spider baseball field~"

"What a way to spend your money." I noted as Muffet took care to tidy up the webs around me. I sighed and struggled, 'cause why not. Muffet was obviously amused by my antics, and she gave me a discount. Which wasn't much.

"But enough of that… It's time for dinner, isn't it? Ahuhuhu…" Dinner already. I could finish this.

But the load of spiders that came right in the beginning left me feeling utterly confused. I ended up getting a lot more close scrapes that I should've, which eventually led to me getting a couple of hits to both of my legs. Soon, cupcake pet appeared. Burping and snapping behind me, it chased me up my final ladder of web lines. I knew I could do it. I could do it, _I could-_

The attack was over. Relief passed through my limbs as the web stopped moving, and I could tell Muffet was honestly surprised. "You're still alive? Ahuhuhu~ Oh, my pet~ Looks like it's time for dessert~" A little spider suddenly appeared next to Muffet, raising a little piece of paper above his head with one of his little arms. "Huh? A telegram from the spiders in the RUINS?" She paused as she listened to the little spider. "What? They're saying that they saw you, and… you helped donate to their cause! Oh my, this has all been a big misunderstanding~"

"I tried to tell you…" I mumbled.

"I thought you were someone that hated spiders~ The person who asked for that _soul_ … They must have meant a _different_ human in an apron~ Sorry for all the trouble~ Ahuhuhu~" She giggled nervously. "I'll make it up to you~ You can come back here any time… And, for no charge at all… I'll wrap you up and let you play with my pet again!" She must've noticed the look on my face, because she quickly added on, " Ahuhuhuhuhuhu~ Just kidding~ I'll _spare_ you now~"

"Yeah." I agreed quickly, "No more fighting." The web lines disappeared beneath me, and I drifted back down to the cobwebbed ground. Some spiders crawled onto me, and I tried not to flinch as the pulled the webs off of me.

"Ahuhuhuhu…" Muffet grinned, "That was fun! See you again, dearie!" She then giggled a farewell before leaving with the rest of her spiders. The webs were off of me now, thankfully.

Well. This experience has just allowed me to gain a whole new level of respect for Joyce.

I took a deep breath before snapping a picture. I sure was glad _that_ was over. The situation had been rather… _sticky._ Ha ha...

I smiled. _Thanks Sans._

* * *

 **Not much proof-reading, so if there's mistakes i'm sorry. ;-; and thanks again for reading!~ :D**


	25. Not a Date

**Oh man, holy crap, this chapter is long. Oh well, all the better it is for you!~ :3**

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Leaving the spiders' lair, I came upon a purple Mettaton poster. It was an announcement for his latest stage performance. _A tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, kept apart by the tides of fate…_ And it looked like it was almost time for the performance.

I sighed before heading on, knowing my fate of meeting up with the psycho robot was inevitable. Ahead, there was a tall brick-blue building, and a single vine growing on it. "OH? THAT HUMAN…" The voice was coming from above. Looking up, I saw ornaments hanging from the ceiling. A moon, a couple of stars… oh, and look. "COULD IT BE…? ...MY ONE TRUE LOVE?"

"No, I'm not."

Mettaton started to descend the stairs. He was wearing a ridiculous blue dress that looked too small for him. He held the edges of the skirt high, although I didn't know why, since he didn't have legs to trip over it.

Then he started to sing in his robotic voice, "Oh my love, please run away… Monster King, forbids your stay… Humans must, live far apart… Even if, it breaks my heart." Admittedly, I found myself nodding along to the music. Pink petals started to fall from nowhere, like confetti. "They'll put you, in the dungeon… It'll suck, and then you'll die a lot…" I giggled. "Really sad, you're gonna die… Cry cry cry, so sad it's happening…" I could tell Mettaton was getting lazier with the lyrics.

The petals stopped. Something flashed in the distance. Confused, I frowned. "Well? Continue."

"SO SAD." Mettaton commented. "SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON." His screen flashed red as he pulled out a remote. "WELL, TOODLES!" He pressed the button, and a hole appeared beneath me. So I fell.

Fortunately, it wasn't a deep drop. I landed on my butt, and groaned. Mettaton flew down as well, but this time with a purple flame beneath him. "OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO?"

"You could let me go." I suggested.

"MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!" Looking ahead, I could see exactly what he meant. "O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE! EACH COLORED TILE HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE GREEN TILE-"

"I know. I remember perfectly well." It was not exactly the number one thing on my to-do list.

"THAT'S RIGHT. YOU REMEMBER ALL THE RULES, DON'T YOU? GREAT… THEN I WON'T WASTE YOUR TIME REPEATING THEM!" I stared at him blankly. "OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN _30 SECONDS_ …" Suddenly, red hot flames appeared behind me. Their heat flickered in the deadly flames, and I felt myself backing away from them. "YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA… HA… HA! MY POOR LOVE! I'M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF. I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING! GOOD LUCK, DARLING!"

The time started to tick on a timer hanging from the ceiling, and I knew it was time. No matter how much I hated the maze, I knew I still wanted to try. Those jets of fire did not look appealing at all. Stepping onto the escalator to start, Mettaton started to sing again. "Oh my love, has fallen down… Now in tears, we all will drown… Colored tiles, make them a fool… If only they, still knew the rules…" I did. I shivered as I stepped into a water tile. "Well that was, a sorry try… Now let's watch…" No! I was only halfway done! "...Them fry." The time ran out, and I found myself facing a robot of deadly terror. Water dripped from my clothes and apron, although I had luckily avoided getting bitten by tiny fish.

"...I was close?" I tried to plead.

He did not look sorry at all. "OOOOH, I'M SO SORRY! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME!" The jets of fire approached. "HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLING!" They came closer. "THEY'RE CLOSING IN!" They were a about a foot away now. Alphys would call them off soon. "GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!" The flames were so close, I could almost see them reflecting off and licking onto my skin. I grimaced as a bit actually seared on. "ANY MINUTE NOW!" The flames stopped moving closer, and Mettaton was put into an awkward position. "..." Cue robotic cough.

The camera rang. "Watch out!" Alphys cried. "I'll save you! I'm hacking into the firewall right now!" I laughed at the unintended pun, and the fire disappeared.

"OH NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? FOILED AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS! THA-"

"That's right!" Alphys chimed from the camera, "Come on, Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us… Not as long as we work together! Your puzzle's over… Now go home and leave us alone!" Nice pep talk, Alph.

"PUZZLE? OVER? ALPHYS, DARLING, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT…? DID YOU FORGET WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO? THEY MAKE A SOUND, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER." I attempted to run away. "WELL, DARLING… THAT MONSTER… IS ME!"

I wasn't fast enough. In the next moment, my soul was drawn out, and I found myself suspended in the air once again. With a microphone in hand, he waved at me heartily. I immediately reached for my camera, taking it out to reach for the secret panel. "THIS IS IT, DARLING! SAY GOODBYE!" The camera rang again. "IS THAT YOUR PHONE? YOU'D BETTER ANSWER IT!" Why, thank you for your courtesy.

"H-hey!" Alphys called out, "Th-this seems bad, but don't worry! Th-there's one last thing I installed on your camera...!"

"Already on it." I informed her, pressing the yellow button. Then the camera started to resonate with Mettaton's presence. I smiled before closing my eyes, feeling the gravity tilt around me once more. It reminded me of Cowboy.

My eyes were open now, and I was completely upside down. Definitely embarrassing, especially since I don't have the ribbon to keep my hair or shirt up anymore. Holding it down (or technically it would be up) with one hand, I used the other to aim my camera. I pressed once, and a single yellow bullet came flying out, and struck Mettaton. It didn't leave a dent, but the robot started to moan like it just got busted up with a sledge hammer.

"OOOH! OOOOOOOH!" It sounded so fake, I wanted to laugh. "YOU'VE DEFEATED ME! HOW CAN THIS BE, YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT, ETC. WHATEVER." Then he waved heartily as he left the scene, leaving me in an equally confused and amused state.

 _Ring…_ "L-looks like you beat him!" Alphys congratulated me. "Y-you did a really great job out there."

I decided there was no reason to be mean. "All thanks to you." I stated as earnestly as possible.

"What? Oh no, I mean… You were the one doing everything cool! I just wrote some silly programs for your camera." Awkward silence. "... umm, h-hey, this might sound strange, but… c-can I tell you something?"

"Uh-huh. Shoot."

"B-before I met you, I d-didn't really… I didn't really like myself very much. For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw-up. L-like I couldn't do a-anything w-without… w-without letting everyone down."

"Same."

"H-huh?"

"I said same. I used to think that way too. I thought I couldn't do anything well, because I was just average. Average enough just to do things but… not in any special kind of way. Everyone was better than me." I took a breath. "But now, that's changed. Everyone down here, my friends, even _you_ , changed me. Down here, I can be someone special, someone important. I've found more confidence down here than I would've found anywhere else." I smiled. "So yeah."

"A-and!" Alphys added, "Guiding you had made me feel… a lot better about myself."

"An equal exchange then."

"So… thanks for letting me help you. M-most of the time."

I laughed. "Sure."

"Uhhh, anyway, we're almost to the CORE. It's just past MTT Resort." Her voice became more determined. "Come on! Let's finish this!"

"Yeah!" Now marching past the grey-floored tiles, I was filled with a new kind of happiness. One of hope and strength, lended to me from friends like Alphys. Even though most of the time she was more annoying than helpful.

It was the Nicecream man again. "Hey! It's you again!" I wondered how he was able to so easily relocate his station. "Business is excellent here! These two fellas bought _all_ my ice cream! I've actually sold out of everything!" He pointed to two figures in armor, and I realized they were the Royal Guards. Ricky must've spared them already. Then why had I seen them next to the elevators earlier before? Unless…

Unless Ricky hadn't made it that far at that point. So he couldn't be too far ahead! Right?

"It's okay, I don't need anything." I quickly reassured him.

"Wait! I've still got something for you! … a big smile! How about that!"

"Yeah." I smiled back at him before turning to the right to figure what was wrong with the elevator. But first, I found Heats Flamesman.

"Hey, hey!" He called to me, "Did you remember my name?"

"Heats Flamesman."

"Wh- _what_!? You _remember_!?" His jaw fell open as his flames slightly diminished. "How could I be so easiliy _defeateeeeeeeeed_!?" I raised my eyebrow in amusement before heading to the elevator. I attempted to press the button, only to find that it really _was_ broken. Terrific.

As I walked away, Heats Flamesman shouted behind me, "I'll always remember that you remembered!"

I was back at the Nicecream stand. I started climbing the stairs in front of me, and was met with an entirely different atmospheric color. Instead of the usual bright and dry hotlands, I was now in a cool purple surrounding. The floor was paved with purple bricks, and in front of me was the one and only MTT Hotel. Above the door was a checkered pattern and a yellow sign that said: _MTT_. There were little golden Mettatons with angel wings, pasted next to the sign. It was funny, and fancy. The doors and windows were bright and yellow, with a thick red carpet laid out right in front of the doorway. There was a note on the ground, but I ignored it. I was more focused on the skeleton standing in front of the bush decoration.

I immediately ran up to him. "Hey." He said.

"Don't 'hey' me!" I pouted. "Where did you _go_? Why did you leave so suddenly?"

He ignored me. "I heard you're going to the core. How about grabbing some dinner with me first?" He stared at me curiously with his eyesockets. I stared back. I had been so upset about his leaving, I had almost forgot about this part of the game.

But it was just a part of a game. Not a date or anything. Wait... a _date_? I dispelled the thoughts as quickly as possible. It wasn't anything like that! After all, he probably had to do this with Ricky too. "...Yeah." I agreed as seriously as possible.

"great, thanks for treating me." I pouted as he headed to the side. "Over here. i know a shortcut." Smiling, I started to follow him, but then he stopped me. I frowned at him, confused.

"this requires a hand." He winked before extending his bony hand to me, and I just stared at it, baffled.

"E-eh?"

"you can't follow me through the shortcut unless we're touching." He explained. "it's different from exiting doors." I nodded feebly and slowly raised my hand to his. He grasped it gently, and I could feel him pulling me along. Cheeks flushed, I held his hand tighter. The bony phalanges of his fingertips dug slightly deeper into my skin. He lead me straight into a wall.

And when we popped out on the other side, we were in MTT Hotel's restaurant. Sans finally let go of my hand, and I felt slightly disappointed. But still excited, I ran to one side of a table and plopped down into a chair. Sans followed suit, but on the other side instead.

The place sure was fancy. Everything was purple, the walls, tablecloth, and even the floor checkerboarded. A few utensils were laid in front of me, and I wondered if I would even use them. After all, you could never even actually eat in the restaurant in the game. The whole room was rather dark, but a single candle was lighted in the middle of the table, giving out a serene romantic mood.

No! _No romance_! This is not a date. Just…just a-

"Well, here we are." Sans stated, breaking the mood slightly. "so. your journey's almost over, huh?"

"Huh?" I frowned.

"You must really want to go home." He added. I was about to protest to it, but then he continued, "hey. I know the feeling, buddo. Though… maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you."

"Yeah, I _know._ " I sighed. "Down here I've already got food, drink, friends and all that."

"so you already know." He prompted, skull on hand. "Then is what you have to do… really worth it?"

I frowned again. "I'm not really _doing_ anything."

Sans turned away, seeming to be in thought. "... ah, forget it. I'm rootin' for ya, kid."

I could feel myself silently steaming. "Aren't you even _listening_ to me?"

"hey."

"No, don't 'hey' me! You're sticking _way_ to strictly to the game rules! Quoting your lines exactly…" I growled. "You don't _have_ to, you know! Because I'm _talking_ to _you_! Do you get that?" Only after my outburst did I realize it made no sense. Why was I so offended by a single act of normal behavior for a game character? Especially since I hadn't been so mad at all the other characters either… just Sans.

"heh." He chuckled. "The _game_ rules? quoting my _lines_? "

"H-huh?" Crap. What exactly had I just ranted about?

His eye sockets turned darker. "is this just a _game_ to you?"

I tried to pretend. "I dunno what you're talking about." If things got out of hand, I could always load a save. Then none of this would've happened.

"don't lie to me, kid. i'm not stupid." He silently growled, pupils turned away. "you think I don't notice when you're about to slip up? you think I don't see you doing and quoting things before they even happen?" I gulped guiltily.

"...No?" I squeaked hopefully.

Sans leaned forward more, eye sockets boring into me. "Buddy, i remember it _perfectly_ well. the way you quoted my whoopee cushion in the hand trick before I did. the way you quote the underground as 'this place.' how you knew I liked ketchup before I even told you." I attempted to interrupt him, but he kept on listing things, starting to count them on his fingers. "The way you reacted and commented on 'Flowey.' the way you flinched away from the telescope prank before you even fully looked into it. how you readily tell me your pockets are full and lean forward to receive a hotdog on the head." He slightly cracked a grin at that, but a moment later, it was gone.

Apparently, I had slipped up too much. I had thought my actions were well concealed, but Sans noticed them like a hawk. "Well-"

"i have a bone to pick with ya." Sans interrupted. "see, i've noticed a couple of things going wrong with the timespace continuum. not much, just a tiny bend. it wasn't something worth worrying about, but i further investigated into it. And when I figured out what your soul color was, I realized the person messing around was _you_."

"How do you even know what my soul color is?" I asked, incredulous. He hadn't had any chance to see it. And in my public fight with Cowboy, the crowd had only seen me with a yellow soul. Literally, only Cowboy and Joyce knew my _real_ soul color at the moment. So how did Sans know as well?

Sans looked bored and went back to counting on his fingers. "Ball game." One finger. "Fight with Joyce." Two fingers. "Fight with Undyne." He gave up and sighed. "A lot of places, kiddo."

But only one item he listed bothered me. "Fight with Joyce?" I could feel myself deflating. "You watched me fight Joyce and you didn't do _anything_?"

"wut was I supposed to do?" Sans asked nonchalantly, leaning back into his chair.

" _Help_!" I almost yelled. "You _could've_ helped! But you didn't!"

"kiddo, i think you're forgetting a couple of things. first off, you can go back in time. so why do you care if you die? you'll just come right back, am i right?" His uncaring tone left me bristling. "second off, you were doing perfectly fine. there wasn't a need for me to get myself involved." I wanted to comment to that, but he plowed on, leaving me no room to talk. "and third of all, i _did_ help. in your little escape battle with undyne? yeah, that. see, if it weren't for me…" His eye sockets turned to emptiness, showing nothing but darkness inside them. "...buddy. _You'd be dead where you stand._ "

I could feel myself shivering. But not from fear, or sadness, or shock. But from _betrayal_. "Huh. I see." My tone monotone, I stood myself up, pushing the seat away. "I see exactly what you mean. I see _exactly_ who you are."

"..." Sans didn't respond, just listened carefully.

"You really _are_ lazy. Just a _selfish, lazy bag of bones_!" That time, it wasn't a compliment. I slammed my palm down on the table, trying to relieve my stress build-up. "Could've helped, but didn't, since you thought 'your assistance wasn't required.' " I put quotation marks in the air. "Uh-huh, exactly. I know you saved my life. I _know_ it. So thanks for rubbing it in."

I tried to ignore the expression of hurt on his face. Sans ducked his head down and muttered something under his breath. It sounded like, "...don't appreciate sarcasm."

"And… and!" I started to sniff, and at first I thought it was from reproachfulness, but when I realized my eyes were wet, I knew it was something else entirely. "I thought you were someone that _cared_! But no." I turned my head away, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek. He didn't really care about my well-being. He only brought me to Grillby's to study my behavior, and brought me here to talk about saves and reloads and shit. I couldn't believe I had originally thought it was a _date_. "Obviously, you don't."

And although Sans was supposed to leave first in the game, I decided to not follow the rules. This time, _I_ was leaving first. Decision made, I strided away, quickly and firmly. The fact that he didn't choose to stop me only confirmed my suspicions further. He didn't care. _At all._

Only when I was out the room did I start running. The fat green fish monster gave me a strange look, but I didn't care. After all, _Sans_ didn't, so why should I?

Once I was out, I ran next to the fountain and crouched down onto the soggy carpet. The fountain was broken, and I just happened to be sitting right next to the spout from which the Mettaton sculpture was throwing up its water. Little droplets bounced onto my head, and soon, I was soaked.

Sure that Sans wouldn't follow me, I cried. I had thought this meeting would be fun. I had thought it would be all cute and calm and all that dreamy stuff. I thought that maybe he liked me. Or at least, had some kind of feelings?...

No, I was just overlooking it. I was always doing that. Maybe I had looked to far into things, seeing gestures that didn't mean what they were. I had just _assumed_ that... that it was more that it seemed.

Why did the rejection hurt so much?

Then, a thought occurred to me. Sure, it may not make much of a difference, and it may not change Sans' mind. But this meeting sorely sucked. It was completely messed up. If I could do it again, maybe it could result with a better ending. I may not get what I want, but at least Sans won't have to watch me running from a room crying.

I could load a save and do it again.

* * *

 **And... I hated how that chapter ended. It was supposed to be fluffy, but ended up in the worst way possible. -_-**

 **So now to lighten up my mood, I've created a better _Alternate Ending_! :D **

* * *

"Well, here we are." Sans stated, looking at me pointedly. "so. your journey's almost over, huh?"

"Huh?" I asked, frowning.

"You must really want to go home." He repeated. "hey. I know the feeling, buddo. Though… maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you."

I rolled my eyes. I already knew the program. "Down here I've already got food, drink, friends and all that."

"so you already know." He prompted, skull on hand. "Then is what you have to do… really worth it?"

I frowned again. "I'm not really _doing_ anything." Or was I? After all, I was still moving forward to Asgore's palace, so it would make the false impression I was trying to get somewhere…

And anyways, why did _Sans_ care of all people? Unless…

After an awkward silence, Sans turned away, seeming to be in thought. In the end, he finally concluded on saying, "... ah, forget it. I'm rootin' for ya, kid."

For some reason, his acceptance made me feel lighter, more relieved. I don't know why. Maybe just the feeling of being accepted in a world of monsters is pleasing, to know that you fit in and that others are okay with you. And… to know that Sans will be rooting for me whether I'm leaving or staying is pretty darn satisfactory. "...Thanks." I smiled.

"hey." He drummed his fingers on the table, looking slightly worried for some reason. "let me tell you a story."

Although I had already heard the story from the game's perspective, I supposed that hearing it directly from Sans would be different, so I nodded.

"So i'm a sentry in snowdin forest, right? i sit out there and watch for humans." He pauses before he admits, "it's kinda boring." I nod for him to continue. "Fortunately, deep in the forest… there's this _huge_ locked door. and it's perfect for practicing knock knock jokes."

I swallowed before gulping. This was the Ruins he was talking about, and he was about to meet Toriel. For some reason, that wrenched a small knot in the pit of my stomach. "Yeah?" It came out a bit sharper than was intended.

Sans frowns at my reaction but shrugs before continuing. "So one day, i'm knocking 'em out, like usual. i knock on the door and say 'knock knock.' and suddenly, from the other side…"

"Someone responds?" I guessed.

"i hear a woman's voice." Sans confirmed. "And she says, 'who's there?' so, naturally, i respond, 'dishes.' 'dishes who?' 'dishes a very bad joke.'" Cue a wink from Sans. "then she just howls with laughter. like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years."

Despite the fact that I almost hate this story, the way Sans tells it is enveloping. I naturally find myself leaning in for more, and it kinda embarasses me. I gotta admit, he's a good story-teller.

"so I keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing. She's the best audience I've ever had." He admits. "Then, after a dozen of 'em, _she_ knock and says… 'knock knock!' i say 'whos there?' 'old lady!' 'old lady who?' 'oh! I did not know you could yodel!'" Cue another wink from Sans. "wow. Needless to say, this woman was very good."

I wanted to point out that I was just as good, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.

"we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually, i had to leave. Papyrus gets kinda cranky without his bedtime story. but she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. It's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. It rules."

He then turns away again, as if thinking about how he should continue the story. I debate on whether to stop him, or listen. After all, he was going to get into the touchy part now.

I decided to listen. "...one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much. I asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. 'If a human ever comes through this door… could you please, please promise something? Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?'" Sans shrugged nonchalantly. "now, i hate making promises. And this woman, i don't even know her name." The word _Toriel_ gets stuck on my tongue, but I don't say it. "but... someone who sincerely likes bad jokes… had an integrity you can't say 'no' to." Then he turns away, like he just admitted something terrible.

This would be my last chance to flee. But I wanted to stay with Sans. Which only left room for one choice. I ruffled around in my pockets for them.

"Do you get what i'm saying?" Sans looked to me. "that promise i made to her… you know what would've happened if she didn't say anything? … buddy." _There._ I plugged them in, careful to make sure I blocked out all noises. Sans hadn't noticed my movement.

He turned away, but two seconds later, he was facing me again. His eye sockets were dark as night, and I tried not to flinch away. There were no signs of any comical pinprick pupils, but his grin was still there. Wide and unchanging, the look made him look kinda crazy. Or sadistic.

I waited, but heard nothing. A few moments later, the pupils were back, and Sans was giving me the most strangest look, like he was wondering why I wasn't reacting. Or if I had even heard in the first place.

I shook my head and smiled before removing the earplugs from my ears. "Sorry, I didn't hear that. Would you care to repeat it?" I grinned innocently, mouth stretching wider at Sans' bewildered expression.

He shook his head, like he was thinking. There was a slightly sheepish grin on his face. He looked rather bothered by my actions. Obviously, he wasn't going to repeat the statement. The so-called "dramatic tension" was gone now.

"Hey, lighten up, bucko!" I grinned, winking. "I'm just joking with you."

"Welp, besides…" San shrugged. "haven't I done a great job protecting you? i mean, look at yourself. You haven't died a single time." He paused. "That's right, isn't it? well, chalk it up to my great skills. … heh."

"Yeah." I agreed. "In times of life threatening moments.

"...Undyne chase." Sans suggested.

"Good times, huh?" I grinned.

"hey look," Sans stared pointedly behind me. "the grub's here." Eyebrows up skeptically, I looked behind my shoulder. Sure enough, there was a monster waiter, holding a tray full of delicious looking food and goodies. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. After all, the game never allowed it…

My face beaming, I stared back at Sans. "That's awesome!"

"yep." He grinned, looking chillax.

"Wait…" I frowned, watching the waiter set the food on the table. "...Is this a date?"

Sans seemed slightly surprised, but he didn't seem ready to veto my question. "If you want it to be." He shrugged.

I could only smile. "Cool." Then I dug in.

* * *

 **~End of Alternate Ending**


	26. Rest

**To _Someguy_ : yeah, the Alternate Endings are just for fun. :P**

* * *

But before I can even do anything, a voice calls about behind me. "F-Frisk? Is that you?" The voice is so familiar, I can't help but to turn around and see who it is.

It is someone in a purple jacket. I recognized her almost immediately. "Cinder!" It was actually really great to see her. A smile just automatically formed on my face as I saw her. I couldn't believe she had actually caught up to me.

She quickly headed over, her expression suddenly turning to a frown. "Are…" She seemed uncertain. "Are you crying?"

I blinked. Then I touched my face. It was wet. "Uh… it's the fountain water stuff."

She didn't look convinced. "Your cheeks are pink."

"Allergies."

"Huh." She still didn't look like she believed me, but seemed to realize that pushing me on would do nothing. However, what she did choose to do was something I hadn't expected. A hug. It was a tight, comfortable hug, and I found myself hugging back. Apparently, she knew something was wrong, but was just nice enough not to ask me about it.

"Thanks." I sniffled.

"You're welcome." She grinned, pulling away but still leaving her hands on my shoulders. "So what's up?"

"I should be asking _you_ that. What are you doing here? Why'd you leave Papyrus?"

A look crossed her face, but then she hid it. "I came to deliver a message." She replied matter-of-factly.

I tilted my head. "Not to follow Joyce?"

"Well, about Joyce…" Cinder frowned. "I have no idea where she went. There also wasn't any sign of her on the way here…" She gave me a hopeful look.

I shook my head. "I didn't see her either."

I recieved a look of slight disappointment. "So either she slipped past you, or I went past her without noticing?"

"I doubt it." Then suddenly, another thought slipped into my mind. "Wait! Did you see Cowboy?"

"Cowboy?" Her gaze was of confusion.

"Yeah, Cowboy! Er… I mean Justin." I quickly corrected myself. "Ya know, the guy in the cowboy hat? Did you see him anywhere on the way?" I could feel hope sparking in my chest, that she had seen him, and that maybe he was just taking his time to continue forwards or something, and that it might explain why I hadn't seen him around and why he hadn't caught up to me yet.

But Cinder shook her head. "If you mean that guy you fought before, then I haven't seen him." I visibly deflated. "But I'm glad I haven't seen him around. Who knows what he might do? I mean, he tried to take your identity, and… hey, what's with that look?"

I blinked at her. "He's not a bad guy. He's cool." I found myself standing up. "In fact, he's the good guy. He didn't try to take my identity, because he _was_ the Justice soul. I'm the soul of Determination."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Frisk, let's please not go through this again-"

"I'm serious!" I snapped. "And if you really want to find the bad guy, then why don't you go find Joyce? I'm sure she'll meet your standards _perfectly_ fine."

Cinder stood up with me. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"Joyce. She's the bad one here, not Cowboy. He just thought he was serving Justice, and that's why he did what he did by fighting me." It felt good to defend Cowboy. It made me feel like I was actually being helpful to someone. It gave me a purpose.

"You need to stop speaking gibberish, Frisk. I know you've been through a lot. You're just not in your right mind right now, so I understand if you're a bit confused."

"Confused?" I shook my head. "No, you're the one that is. I am perfectly capable and fine-"

"Ok look. Let's just go take a break in the Hotel or something. You can calm yourself down, and I'll deliver my message." She started to steer me towards the clerk at the main desk. It was a blue monster hand, with red fingernails.

I pouted and crossed my arms, but decided not to say more. I obviously couldn't convince her of anything without solid proof. I could do the evidence stuff later. But for now… "What message?" Cinder ignored me as she asked for a room from the clerk, and he flipped through his little book looking for available rooms. This was dumb.

The clerk finally directed us to a hotel room, and Cinder literally dragged me there, since I was unwilling to cooperate to anything lately.

The room was pretty fancy, but not as decorated as I had imagined it to be. There were two large beds waiting for us, each with only one pillow on it. Everything had an orange-yellow color scheme, and only the bed sheets and side desks were red. The lamps were Mettaton-shaped, which I found amusing, and there was a big Mettaton picture frame on the wall above the bed. Only when we finally entered and sat ourselves down did Cinder choose to speak about her 'message.'

"So," She started, "I received a text from James."

"A text?" She had a phone? Then the whole meaning of the message came to me. "Wait. Did you say _James_?"

"Yeah." Cinder confirmed. "Joyce's friend? That's him. I just can't believe the Double J's would even split up in the first place." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he said that he had finally left the Ruins after Toriel let him go."

"Toriel _actually_ let him go?" My eyes were wide with disbelief. Again, the impossible had been accomplished.

"Without a fight." Cinder confirmed. "And now he's heading forwards. But knowing the patient guy he is, I don't think he'll be advancing very quickly. So the plan is to wait for him until he catches up so that we can all fight Asgore at once."

"So Elaine will be here soon too!" I added, excitement building up inside me.

But at Cinder's look of confusion, I could tell something was wrong. "Elaine?"

"Uh, yeah. Didn't James say anything about her? She was travelling with him."

Cinder gave me a look. "No there wasn't anyone… look, just get some rest. You're making up a lot of stuff, and it probably isn't good for your brain."

I gave her a look. "Creativity _is_ good for your brain, you know."

"Well the way it's making your brain function can't possibly be good." She frowned.

I grinned, a little idea popping up in my head. "Well you know, I don't really _mind_ all that much."

An awkward silence before Cinder got it. Once she did though, she slapped her forehead, laughing. "If I didn't know any better, I would think _you_ were _Joyce_!" She shook her head, smiling. "You really _have_ been spending too much time around Sans."

At the word 'Sans', I literally jumped in my seat. Even after that, my back was still crawling with the feeling of guilt and remorse. But to counter at that feeling, I suddenly felt myself bristle in anger. At the skeleton's stupidity, and for his way of making _me_ feel guilty when it was obviously his fault.

Cinder noticed my fidgeting and silence. "...Is something wrong?"

I avoided her worried gaze and dropped onto one of the beds. "I'm going to sleep."

* * *

I hadn't known how tired I was. I had literally fallen asleep right away. Yet for some reason on the next day, I woke up early. Or at least earlier than Cinder. She was still snoring away on her own little bed, so I crawled out to explore around the hotel.

There were a couple of people milling around the elevator, just mostly waiting for it to start working again. I had small conversation with some of them, and then moved on to talk to the rest of the workers in the Resort. The little origami monster warmly welcomed me. I said hello to the finger and fish monster. I met some monsters in the Restaurant and talked with them as well. I even had a little chat with Burgerpants.

In the game, I had always thought he was just an ugly dude that made silly faces. With that ridiculous working hat on him, and that smelly cigarette he almost always smoked, I figured he was just a really derpy guy. But he was more than that. In fact, he had his own stories and words of motivation. Seeing that I was just a young child, he gave me the advice I would need as I grew up. He told me about Mettaton, the future, how he got his name, some life advice, and the most important one.

Romance advice. "Listen." He told me, making a ridiculous face. "I like you, little buddy." I flinched, as the way he called me reminded me of Sans. "So I'm gonna save you a lot of trouble. Never interact with attractive people. Unless you're 'one of them,' they're gonna take advantage of you."

I sighed as I nodded my head. "Yeah, I know." Or at least I do now. Just thinking of the expressions Sans wore when he grinned and cracked jokes made butterflies fly around in my stomach…

"Like that time those two chicks asked me to sneak some glamburgers." He continued, starting to launch into his own story and interrupting my thoughts. "And I, naive teenager that I was, said yes to them. Bad idea. So I went out to the alley to…" The rest of his words just kinda drowned out in my head as I nodded to his words, but I wasn't necessarily listening.

I had just never noticed it before. The hotel was just so quiet, and peaceful too. Not at all what I had imagined it like in the game, as some crazy chaotic place full of crowds and equally insane people. The relaxing atmosphere of the hotel filled me with-

 _No._ No, I wasn't going to save yet. Not until I was absolutely positively sure I wasn't going to reload a save.

When I returned to our hotel room, Cinder was already up and at it, doing whatever she was doing in the bathroom. So I laid on the bed and waited for her to finish so that we could talk.

When she came out, her look was expectant. "I heard you come in." She prompted, hopping onto the bed horizontal to mine.

"Yeah yeah." I grumbled. I was feeling particularly moody these days. With Cowboy nowhere to be seen. With people pretending Elaine didn't even exist. With everyone believing Joyce was just a good person. And Sans treating me like-

"So first things first, is your brain back to normal?"

I rolled my eyes. "It was always fine in the first place."

"It wasn't yesterday."

"You just refuse to believe me." I pointed out, hopping off the bed and heading to the door. I beckoned Cinder to follow me. "C'mon." I was going to prove things to her, once and for all. But step by step. We had to get this soul color thing in order first.

Cinder followed, undaunted. The two of us exited the hotel, leaving the occupants behind. For the first time in my life, I was relieved to see that Sans wasn't there, waiting outside or something. I could do without him for a while now, thank you very much.

"So you have something to prove." Cinder prompted.

"Yes. I'm made of determination, not Justice."

"But doesn't justifying yourself technically make you a Justice soul?"

I thought about it. "Maybe."

The two of us headed past the NiceCream man. For some reason, he was still there. The Royal Guards were gone though, unsurprisingly. Cinder and I kept moving along, side by side.

"You're trying to engage in combat with a monster to show me that your soul is red."

"Yes."

"Well," She smiled. "What if you had just painted your soul red?" I elbowed her lightly, and she laughed. I smiled, but didn't laugh. "Okay, fine, I was just kidding. But to make things simpler, you know you could just engage in combat with me, right?"

"Yes, but no thank you." I growled, thinking of my fights with Joyce and Cowboy. I was _not_ going to get into another situation like that again.

"What? Aw, come on!" Cinder suddenly leaped ahead of me, stopping me from continuing, "It'll be a learning experience! And it'll fun!"

I made a face. I already had enough experience. There was no need for more, really. "What's so fun about fighting your own friends?"

"But don't you ever wonder how strong the other person is? Or if you're strong enough to be able to defeat them?"

I raised my eyebrows. "You're wondering if you can defeat _me_."

Cinder suddenly clasped her hands over her mouth, as if she had just realized she had said too much. "Uh… I mean, what I meant was-"

"No, it's fine. It's fine, really." I sighed. In truth, I was a little curious as well. After all, this was probably more of an experience for her than me. "As long as I get to prove my point, and as long as we're not actually planning to kill each other, I'm fine."

Cinder nodded her head eagerly. "Ok!"

Then just like that, our souls were drawn out. The blue one emerged from Cinder's chest as a red one emerged from mine. Cinder's eyes wide, I drifted into the air, watching her rooted onto the ground.

"So." I raised an eyebrow. "Convinced?"

"...you could've just painted it." I slapped my forehead, and Cinder chuckled. "Just kidding. But honestly… that's _so cool_!" Her gaze was on my soul, the vibrant red glowing from the little heart.

I grinned. "Yeah, I guess."

"But that means you can RESET!" She crowed, throwing up her hands. "Which means you can always go back if things ever get messy!"

"Messy?"

"Yeah, like if something doesn't go your way, or if you accidentally say or do something, or if someone gets killed-"

Was she _trying_ to irritate me? "You know what? Let's just get on with it." I took a deep breath before reciting, "I don't want to fight."

"But I do." A smirk suddenly passed onto Cinder's face, and she looked slightly determined. "I want to see just how good you are at fighting." Then without warning, she jumped into the air, straight at me.

As she swiped at me with whatever was in her hand, I flew to the side, avoiding it easily. "Seriously?" Oh well. I could probably do with some fighting exercise right now.

Cinder landed back on the ground and turned back to me. Upon closer inspection, I realized the item in her hand was a frying pan. The Burnt Pan, to be more exact. "Yeah! So why don't you actually try to _fight_?" She jumped right back into the air, and I flew to the side again.

"Well, I think I may." I teased. "But only after you hit me once."

Growling, Cinder launched herself back into the air, and I flew away. "It's not fair if you keep flying away!" She protested, landing again.

I shrugged, attempting to look nonchalant. "It's not _my_ fault _I_ have the red soul, and _you_ have the blue one." Cinder scowled, and I smirked playfully. Obviously, I had just pissed her off a bit. It was rather satisfactory.

Cinder leaped back into the air and I moved away, expecting her to fall back down to the ground. So I was surprised when she swiped again, staying up in the air a bit longer than she should've. I barely avoided it, ducking under the pan and attempting to grab it. But by then, she was already dropping back down to the ground.

Now it was my turn to scowl, and Cinder attempted a small smile. Feeling competitive, I drifted down closer to the ground. "Fine then, if you want to get beat up so bad." I moved into an offensive stance. "First one down loses." I had never remembered ever being so positively sure for my own strength. I guess spending time in the Underground really changes people for the better.

"Finally!" Cinder readied her frying pan into her own heroic pose, and to tell the truth, she looked pretty ridiculous. Maybe I should just go easy on her. I grinned before slipping off my backpack to retrieve my own sturdy weapon, a stick. Somewhat satisfied, I tossed the backpack to the side. I wanted to be as lightweight as possible for this fight.

Cinder started forward first, frying pan put offensively and defensively in front of her. I waited, and when she was close enough, I attempted to jump over her, in hopes to turn around afterwards and strike her from behind. Unfortunately, she jumped up with me, swiping her pan outwards. I ducked, and she hit nothing, not even my hair. This was the only time I would be grateful for my shortness of hair.

She was open now, with nothing to protect her middle area. The thought of kicking her suddenly flashed through my mind, but I thought better of it. It might hurt too much. Instead, I decided on using my stick. I attempted to swipe out my weapon, but was surprised when it didn't hit in contact with her. In fact, she wasn't even in front of me anymore. Just as I was wondering where she went, I heard a swish of wind behind me.

I tried to move aside, but the pan slammed straight into my leg with a _clang!_ , and I found myself flying away in a kind of messed up whirlwind of stupidity. How in the world had she gotten behind me? My leg throbbed, and I mentally cursed myself for getting hit. When I looked up at Cinder, she looked worried, like she hadn't expected to actually hit me.

"S-sorry!" She squeaked, dropping back to the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I growled, attempting to get back into position. "Keep going."

Cinder's face suddenly turned amused. "I thought you didn't want to fight?"

"Well, I'm just keeping the deal." I grinned, the pain in my leg already subsiding. "You hit me once. So I'm going to fight you now. For _real_."

* * *

 **I hate how stingy Frisk is with just the _thought_ of Sans. ;-; But eh.**


	27. Conversation

**Ehhh this chapter was hard to write though I have no idea why. Maybe it's just writer's block or something? :P**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy! :D**

* * *

" _I won!_ "

"No, _I_ won."

" _No_! I did. You have more bruises."

"That's because your pan hurts more." I frowned. "It's made of metal. A stick doesn't do that much damage."

"It was rusted."

"That doesn't make it hurt less." I rolled my eyes. "And anyways, you were the one that fell first. And the rule was 'first one down loses.' "

" _Whaaat_?" Cinder moaned. "Unfair!"

I grinned. The battle had been a lot more _heated_ than I had thought it would be. (Haha, Hotlands.) Obviously, it was wrong to underestimate anyone, especially people like Cinder. They seemed weak on the outside, but they were actually pretty skilled when it came down to it. Cinder had gotten a couple hits in, but most of the time, I had let it happen on purpose, so that I could get my own hit in on vital areas. In the end, Cinder really was the first one down. But to pay for that, I was now a lot more beat up than I should be.

"Geez." Cinder wiped her forehead tiredly, staring at my arms. There were a couple of purple bruises there, but they weren't that big. "The only reason I kept hitting you was because I thought it didn't hurt you."

"It didn't." Or at least, it didn't before. Now, my arms just felt really sore. Apparently, holding a stick for an extended amount of time was tiring. "Anyways, that was fun."

"See? I told you."

I shot her a look and she laughed. After a moment, I joined in too. I couldn't help it. "Fine, I admit it. It was _a lot_ of pun."

I could see Cinder was about to burst back into laughing again. " _I-ce_ what you did there."

I frowned. "There's no ice around here." It wasn't like we were in Snowdin or anything.

"Oh." She shrugged. "At least it's the opposite of Hotlands, so that's something."

"I don't even _snow_ what to say." I grinned.

"Hey!" She pushed me lightly. "You think you're so _cool_ , huh?"

"Well, you know. My puns are just _too hot_ to handle! I dunno about yours though."

She frowned. "Well that was _cold._ "

We went back to laughing.

* * *

"So, when did you get so good at making puns?" I asked Cinder as we headed to Bratty and Catty's "creepy alleyway" for some "great deals."

Cinder shrugged, but I could tell she was flattered. "Let's just say that Joyce has been rubbing off of me."

"But Papyrus won't appreciate that though, will he?"

"Probably not." She agreed. "Although he makes puns too, you know."

"I thought he hated them?" I inquired.

"Well, in the game he makes a pun as well. About Sans putting more… ' _backbone_ into his work' or something."

"..." I didn't respond to that.

We had finally reached our destination. Bratty (an alligator with yellow hair) and Catty (a purple cat) greeted us to their alleyway. It was pretty trashed up, and I wondered how they could even afford to give or sell us anything. There were a couple of trash cans next to a doorway, and beside the door was a pasted sign " _Bratty & Catty._" The whole place just gave off a mysterious purple aura. Not exactly the most inviting welcome.

The two were like twins, and acted like sassy high school girls. They tried to sell to us their junk food and everything, but the only thing I accepted was the mysterious key. The Empty Gun and Cowboy hat were already sold out. It reminded me of Cowboy. Maybe once I got a chance to go back to the Waterfall, I could go use the key and go look for Cowboy to see where he went.

Cinder ended up getting into a conversation with the two, gossiping about people and whatnot. So I just sat there, not really doing anything. Sometimes listening, sometimes daydreaming, and sometimes just thinking. Thinking about… stuff.

It's already been two days, and James still wasn't here. I would've made it here much faster, but Cinder was right. He was _way_ too patient. For all I knew, he was crawling his way along, and smelling every flower along the way. But did that mean his soul was light blue? I sighed at the idea. Hopefully, he wasn't taking his time in Snowdin, and chilling with the skeleton bros like I had.

And about Sans. I groaned, propping my chin onto the palm of my hand as I leaned against a wall. I was still mad at him, although I didn't know from what. In fact, I had almost completely forgotten about what we had fought over on that day. It was pretty unsettling. How could I hate someone without even knowing the reason for why I hated them?

Cinder seemed to notice my depressed mood and stopped with her chatter. She bid her farewells to the two alley monsters and came to over to me. "Let's go."

"Yeah."

* * *

"So, what are you so pissed off about anyway?" Cinder asked me as I flopped onto the bed. We were back in our hotel room, doing whatever we could to waste our time and wait for James' arrival.

"I'm not pissed off about anything."

"Yes you are." She insisted, staring at me. "I see it on your face."

I blinked at her, wondering if she actually _could_ see it. "Okay, fine. I am. So what?"

"I want to know what you're mad at."

I blinked at her again. I didn't want to answer anything. Maybe I could just change the subject? "I just said I was pissed, not that I was mad."

"Well you look mad."

I grinned at her. "Like the Mad Hatter?"

"What? No… just-"

"So you don't think I'm mad anymore?" I teased innocently, tipping my head to the side and wagging my finger playfully. "I thought my brain was crazy, and that I was just making up my soul color, and the fact that Elaine and Cowboy exist, and that Joyce is just an evil maniac waiting to conquer the-"

"You already proved yourself for the red soul thing, so I apologize!" Cinder noted promptly, hand on hips and seeming slightly exasperated. "But you need to stop making up all that other stuff!"

I smiled. I had just successfully changed the topic. "C'mon…" I rolled my eyes. "I already proved you wrong once. Can't you just believe me now?"

"I won't believe anything until I get proof." She huffed. "After all, _I_ don't make assumptions."

"Huh." Her proclamation made me think of Cowboy, and how he had declared to never base Justice on incomplete evidence. Now my undecipherable thoughts were coming back, swarming my mind with doubts and questions. Where was Cowboy? Why wasn't he here yet? Was he okay? I shook my head to try to clear them.

"See?" Cinder suddenly called out, pointing. "You're making that face again!"

Crap. I thought I had veered the topic aside already, but she seemed insistent on bringing it up. I frowned before saying, "Can we just not talk about this?"

Cinder sighed. "If you don't _want_ to, I guess. But just know that you can always confide with me, if you need anything."

"Yeah yeah." Like how I thought I could confide with Sans in anything. The thought brought back memories of my meeting with him at the Hot Dog stand. I remembered our exchange of feelings, and how he had said he was… lonely? I frowned, thinking. What was he lonely for, anyway? After all, he had had Papyrus with him and everything.

It took me a moment to realize that Cinder was surveying my face. She was watching me carefully, with almost a curious look on her face, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Was I the puzzle? The watchful gaze was piercing, like she was trying to look through me and find all my secrets. I think I should be thankful that she is not a mind reader.

Eventually, she gave up and plopped onto her own bed. Later, quiet snores could be heard from her bed, and I knew she was asleep.

Oh well. I might as well catch up with some sleep too.

* * *

"Remember that fight from yesterday?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah?" I was snacking on a bag of junk food that came from Bratty and Catty's alleyway. I was surprised at myself for buying it, but I guess I just miss the idea of eating snacks and all that.

She shook her head disbelievingly. "I still can't believe your soul is _red_."

I shrugged. "I told you before, but you didn't believe me. Your fault."

"I thought you were joking!" She rolled her eyes. "...or growing delusional."

"I wasn't."

"The thing is, I didn't believe you because you didn't seem like someone that might have a red soul…" She stared at me uneasily. "No offense."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I kinda imagined the soul of Determination to be more… awesome?" She shrugged. "Like, I expected them to be super heroic and to appear in full battle armor or something." She noticed my expression and looked down shamefully. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. But that's just what I think."

I tried to keep my cool. Obviously, I was average. I had already noticed that before, so there wasn't much of a need to be offended by her words if they were true. "Well, what about Frisk?" I asked. "And no, I don't mean me. I mean the _original_ Frisk. She was the red soul of determination, and she was no better than me or you." I prodded my chin, thinking. "In fact, if I remember correctly, she was just a child, wasn't she?"

"But she was Determined." Cinder noted, kicking a stone next to her foot. I watched as it bounced off the cliff and dropped into the smoking lava below. "She was Determined to get home, or Determined to save monster-kind, or whatever. But what are you so Determined about? I just don't get it."

I didn't get it either. For all I knew, Cinder was more Determined than me. After all, she just seemed pointed on getting the truth out of me. Well, I suppose there was a reason for the dark-blue color of her soul. "Just because you're the truth soul doesn't mean I have to be it as well."

"I'm just curious as to what makes you so determined." She blinked at me. "What is out there that could make you as strong and determined as you are?"

I shrugged. I didn't know, but I wasn't going to fight it. "Let's just stop talking about it for now."

Cinder reluctantly agreed, and we walked in silence for a while. The only obvious noises I could hear were the constant crunching of chips in my mouth.

"Oh! And speaking of soul colors and fighting…" Cinder popped in. "You said it was fun. So I was just thinking if maybe we could… do it again?"

"Do it _again_?" I wasn't sure whether to feel excited or incredulous.

"Yeah! Except this time, you coach me so that I can become a better fighter!"

I gave her a disapproving look. "I can't coach."

"Sure you can!" She encouraged me. "Just give me some tips as to how to battle better or something."

I thought about it. "No." I finally decided. "But why?"

"I want to get better!" Cinder huffed, pumping her arms excitedly.

"For what?"

"For… for… just because!" That wasn't a very good reason, and Cinder seemed to realize that, because she added, "Don't you ever wish you could get better at things, just so you could be good at it?" Huh… good point. Like how I'm awfully average in everything, so I'm technically unable to be super good at anything, however much I want to be.

"I guess." I shrugged. "But I still can't teach."

"Then I'll just fight you." Cinder decided. "I'll keep fighting you and watching you until I learn my own tips and can defeat you with my own terms."

I blinked at her before frowning. "I don't really want to fight."

"Before, you said it was fun."

Quick, an excuse. "I don't want to get myself all battered up again."

"I won't use a weapon."

I smirked at her. "Then how do you expect yourself to win?"

"I won't. Well at least, not at first. Once I'm better, I might, but not for now." She stood up straighter, hands on hips. "And anyways, you have to agree with my terms now, since there's no reason for you not to."

Quick, another excuse. "My bruises still hurt."

"Your bruises are gone." Cinder rolled her eyes. "Remember? When you ate the chips, they healed you so that all your bruises disappeared."

Crap. I knew I shouldn't have eaten those. "Uh…" I stalled, trying to think of an excuse. I failed miserably.

Cinder seemed to realize that. Pose triumphant, my soul was drawn out with hers. I reluctantly threw my empty chip bag into my backpack before tossing it to the side along with my camera. I reclaimed my stick and twirled it around in my hand. Surprisingly, it didn't slip. My hands were growing niftier these days.

I was floating, but closer to the ground. Maybe if I just flew up high enough without resorting to violence, Cinder would give up and spare me. Mind made, I flew high up into the air, or at least, as high as I could go. Once I was at a certain altitude, there just seemed to be a barrier above me, keeping me from flying higher, so I stayed put.

Looking down, I could see Cinder was daunted by my height advantage. I smirked. "How about you try some jumping practice first?" I called to her teasingly.

She scowled before jumping, but she only reached the distance half-way up before she started falling back down again. Once she landed, she turned to me and waved her arms around in an annoyed way. "No fair!"

I wiggled my eyebrows. Or at least, I attempted to. "I'll only come down if you don't want to fight."

"Then there'll be no point to this fight!" She hissed, but not in a mean way. More in a _why-can't-you-effing-just-cooperate?_ way.

I crossed my arms. "Whatever, it's your choice."

She growled a bit longer before returning back to her useless efforts at jumping to reach me. I stared at her for a moment longer before letting my gaze drift to the sky. Or in this case, the cave ceiling. It might take while more before Cinder gave up, so I had time.

I let my thoughts wander. To my friends, the monsters, and all the events happening all at once in this crazy world. I found myself remembering past things. It seemed like forever since I had last been to school, done homework, or seen my parents' smile. That life was such a long time ago.

Well, not really. How long have I even been down here? I frowned at my fingers as I began to count. A day just sleeping on the flowers. Maybe a day with Toriel, when I waited for the pie. Maybe two days with the skeleton brothers? Waterfall was a day at most. Hotlands took less than a day with the help of the elevators, but we've been waiting for approximately two days already. So that made… _seven_ days? A full, complete week.

I hadn't even known.

I suddenly felt something brush my shoe, and I looked down to see Cinder swinging her pan wildly as she floated back down to the ground. Apparently, she had jumped high enough to scrape my foot, but no more. Was she actually improving on her jumping skill? And why the heck was she still going?

She huffed and wiped her forehead before shaking her head. "I was so close!" Then she raised her arms in defeat. "I give up!"

Our souls didn't go back into our bodies, and Cinder gave me a confused look. I smiled before drifting down to meet her. "Congrats, I'm rewarding you for your hard work."

She gave me a look of pure disbelief. "So _now_ you want to fight?"

"Yeah!" I moved into an attack position. "Let's go!" I had no idea how I was so energized all of a sudden.

I could tell Cinder was tired, but she seemed more than ready to go for a fight. "Okay." She lifted her pan over her head, preparing to charge forwards.

Just as she put a step forward, a loud voice called out pleadingly, " _Wait_! Don't fight!" The voice wasn't extremely familiar, so I knew it wasn't Sans or some other monster. Yet I could still remember the tone, and recognize it as one of my friends'. But who's?

Confused, Cinder and I paused on our attacks and turned our heads around to the source of the voice. Standing not too far away was a figure waving at us, whether to stop us or just in greeting, I had no idea. Upon closer inspection, I realized…

It was one of the Double J's.

* * *

 **But _which_ of the Double J's is it, hm? (¬Ꮂ¬)**

 **Also, I want to ask you guys a question... Do any of you know how the views/visitors thing works? Because for some reason, Chapter 25 has 139 visitors, but Chapter 24 only has 57. -_- If anyone could explain that, it would be highly appreciated. :D**

 **And thanks again for reading! Tell me how you like it~**


	28. Single J

"Stop it!" James waved worriedly, running to us. "Why are you fighting?" He looked completely disbelieving, but I could only blink at him.

James was here. He had finally made it. And not to mention, in a much faster time than I had expected him to. I sighed in relief before choosing to answer him. "Well, we're not really _fighting_ ," I mused. Then as if to prove it, our souls retracted back into our bodies, safe from harm.

"Because you keep finding excuses." Cinder pointed out.

I glared at her, but couldn't find a way to counter her. It was the truth, after all. "And because we're not fighting for real." I added. "Just for fun. Or training. Or something."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "It's not any of those, and you know it."

I pouted, and James could only keep looking between us in bewilderment. After a few moments of confusion, he asked to clarify, "So you're not fighting?"

I nodded. "Basically, yeah."

His shoulders slumped slightly, and I could see obvious relief on his face. Had he seriously thought we were fighting? Why would we even fight in the first place? Now that I was looking more closely, I could see there was an obvious tension on him, weighing him down. What was bothering him so much?

Cinder seemed to have noticed it as well. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

James jumped a little at the question, but quickly replied, "Uh, yeah! I'm fine. It's just the heat. It's making me really… hot." He looked weary just saying it, but I doubted it was the real reason.

Then suddenly, a much more important question sparked my mind. I eyed him carefully as I asked, " _Where is Elaine_?"

James seemed slightly startled at my tone of voice, and I received an incredulous look from Cinder. "She's doing fine." He responded carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Why isn't she with you?"

"She wanted to stay with the skeleton brothers." He replied briskly, avoiding my gaze. "I don't know why."

Before I could drill him for more answers, Cinder beat me to the questions. "Did you see Joyce anywhere?"

James shook his head, and his hair flew around with him in the motion. "I thought she would be with you." He obviously looked disappointed. Maybe he had been counting on a Double J reunion or something.

"Well, she's not." And good riddance too.

"But since you're here, we can move on now!" Cinder exclaimed cheerfully.

James scratched the back of his head uneasily. "I hope you didn't have to wait too long for me."

"We didn't." I assured him, as the three of us starting to head back to the Hotel. "In fact, you arrived _way_ earlier than I thought you would've. How?"

"Oh!" James immediately brightened up, like this was something he was actually willing to talk about, compared to all the other discussed topics so far. "Sans helped me!"

" _Sans_?"

"Yeah! He offered me a shortcut, and I told him he didn't have to. But he insisted, so I eventually agreed. He then dropped me off at his Hot Dog stand with one of his crazy shortcuts. It made things a lot faster." He pouted slightly at this.

I blinked, then turned away. Now there was no way for me to ask James if he had seen Cowboy.

Cinder noticed my expression. "Okay, it's about Sans, isn't it?" I tried to keep from glaring at her.

James turned to Cinder, confused. "What's about Sans?"

"The thing she's keeps being pissed about." Cinder explained, shrugging. "Lately, she's been pretty down, and especially touchy towards any subject regarding Sans. I think something happened between them."

I never remembered Cinder being so perceptive.

"Oh." James stared at me for a moment, but didn't prod.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at him, seeming amused. "You really are the soul of patience, aren't you?"

"H-huh?"

"Yeah, you." She pointed at him. "The way you refuse to speed things up, and how you choose not to ask too many questions. You're the soul of patience, right?"

James blinked stupidly at her, and I took that as a yes. "I bet you took your time getting here, didn't you?" I asked.

Now James was blinking at me, and his inability to answer proved that I was right as well. He stared at the ground sheepishly as we kept walking. At least he felt somewhat bad about it.

* * *

The three of us passed through Mettaton's Hotel one last time. For the first time in forever, I felt a kind of ease and peace. Because despite everything that was going on, and with everything that was occurring, I didn't regret any of it. At least, not yet. And James had finally caught up, so that was something. I finally allowed the relaxing atmosphere of the hotel to fill me with determination. It felt nice. We paid for our room of 200 G, bought one last Stairfait from Burgerpants, then left for good.

On our way to the Core, we discussed a couple of very important matters.

"So Cinder," I prompted. "On your way to the Hotel, how annoying was Mettaton?"

She shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. The only thing I had to do was the quiz, but some of the easier questions were changed to be made harder. I was able to skip everything else with the elevators." So she didn't have to do Mettaton's Cooking Show?

I frowned. "The Royal Guards didn't stop you?"

"They weren't there."

I pouted slightly. Of course they weren't. At that moment, they had chosen to eat ice cream. "Well then, how about Muffet?" The last elevator was broken, so she had to go through that, right?

"She ignored me." Cinder stated plainly. "She was only looking for someone in an apron…" She stared pointedly at the apron I was wearing, and I grinned.

"Was Muffet hard?" James asked, slightly curious.

I thought about it. Sure, she was hard. But did I really want to be looked down on? "Eh, she was okay." I waved my hand around dismissively. "Why?"

"Joyce said it was easy."

" _Joyce_?" I widened my eyes at him. "What? _How_?" Had she already passed through this area?

"That depends what do you mean by 'how.' " He prompted. "Do you mean, how is it easy?"

"No!" I groaned, annoyed at James' stupidity. "I mean, how did she already get to Muffet? And how do you even know?"

"She texted me." He grinned, reminding me just how awful not having a phone is. "She said something about beating Muffet and how it was 'a piece of cake.' "

" _When_?" Was it recently? Was she ahead of us right now?

James blinked questioningly at my sudden interest, but answered nonetheless. "Sometime after you left Toriel's house." Then his gaze drooped a bit. "But now, she's not answering any of my texts. I wonder why…"

My brow furrowed, and I thought hard on this. So she hadn't texted James recently, which meant that her message about Muffet could've been at a way earlier time. Right now, she might still be trying to catch up behind us somewhere. Except James hadn't seen her on the way here. Unless she had been in the Waterfall, and James teleported with Sans past her?

But the fact that she found the Muffet fight to be easy irritated me in a way I didn't like. She had already reached Muffet by the time I left Toriel's, which meant she had probably breezed through the whole game like it was the easiest thing ever. It also meant she hadn't chose to stick with the skeleton brothers right away, just later. She must've headed back with the River Person after reaching a certain destination. When did she turn back? And why? She could've just continued on, and… and…

What? She couldn't have done anything. Killed Asgore? No. So of course she went back. Then she stayed with Cinder until I showed up, giving the impression that she had just been staying with the skeleton brothers the whole time.

Why didn't Sans tell me? Or even worse, why didn't _Cinder_ tell me?

Cinder watched me carefully. "What are you thinking of? Is it Sans again?"

For once, she was wrong. Sortove. Staring her down, I asked, "When did _you_ reach the skeleton's household?"

She scratched her head. "I dunno, I don't have anything to use as a time marker. I left Toriel's when James was still there, and arrived at the skeleton's place once Joyce was there."

I decided not to prod. After all, if she was telling the truth (which she must've), then there was no more to ask for. She didn't know that Joyce went ahead and came back later. That also explained how she didn't know who Elaine was. I sighed just thinking about it. How long did Sans have to live with that annoying Joyce before Cinder showed up?

Pitying the skeleton wasn't exactly my thing, so I gave up on it.

* * *

The core was bright and mysterious, with little lights glowing everywhere, illuminating the blue halls. It was just as I expected it. The air was filled with the smell of ozone, and I was filled with determination. Smiling with anticipation, the three of us headed on.

Only after reaching the elevator in the Core did I realize we hadn't approached a single Core monster or received a text from Alphys.

"Say…" Cinder mused, looking my way. "James and I both have phones, so we could receive texts from Alphys. But you don't have a phone. How did you receive yours? Unless… you didn't contact Alphys at all?"

I shook my head before pointing at my camera. "Anyway, that's not the point. Do we use the elevator?"

"Let's see if it works first." Cinder volunteered, stepping forward to press the elevator buttons. I wasn't sure if I was surprised or not, but the doors opened without resistance, filling the room with a loug a _ding_!

"Huh." I commented, giving Cinder a sideways glance. "It looks like Ricky has already passed through this area, and given us access to the elevators."

"Yeah." Cinder replied, and all three of us headed in. The inside of the elevator was as bright as the Core. There were no destination buttons, but the elevator closed itself as it zoomed away to the destination on its own.

"You know Ricky?" I asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, then pointed to James. "I'm sure James does too." James nodded when his name was mentioned, and I couldn't help grinning. Cowboy had been right when he said everyone knew Ricky. It was actually kinda wierd.

But thinking of Cowboy made me sick, so I had to stop thinking about it.

Luckily, James interrupted my thoughts with a question. "But why didn't Alphys stop the elevator? And why didn't she reactivate the monsters to come back?"

Cinder frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well," James shrugged. "Sans only brought me to the Hotdog Station, so I still had to continue on my own. I found that all the puzzles still worked, so I figured that Alphys had just reactivated all the puzzles again."

"Yeah." I agreed, nodding. "Most of the puzzles I did were reactivated, though there were a couple that Alphys missed, so I got it easy on those."

"But I didn't have to do a single one!" Cinder exclaimed, a tone of disbelief in her voice. "Had Alphys just forgotten to reactivate them for me?"

"Maybe it's because you weren't too far behind me when you tried catching up." I suggested. "So all the puzzles you went through were ones that I already solved."

She pouted. "Maybe." Then at that moment, the elevator doors finally opened, and the three of us stepped out.

"Should we get the Glamburger in the trash can?" James asked, following us to the big neon-colored door. There was a huge, decorative wing-shaped symbol on top of it. It seemed pretty intimidating, but not as much as the pitch-blackness behind the door itself. I knew that behind the door, we would find an elevator that would lead us to Asgore's castle. It filled me with determination.

"Nah." I answered, feeling strong. "Ricky might've already got to it." And I don't want to make a fool out of myself by getting lost in the maze-like Core.

"And I don't want to eat anything out of a trash can." Cinder pointed out, sticking out her tongue out and making gagging sounds to prove a point.

"Anyways," I shrugged. "We don't even _know_ if we'll be fighting Mettaton. For all we know, he gave up after fighting Ricky."

"But that doesn't make sense." Cinder shook her head. "If he already fought Mettaton, then he wouldn't be there to constantly give us his Quiz Shows. He's still intact and in his box-shaped form… so I think we're still going to have to fight him." Wait, so Ricky _didn't_ have to fight Mettaton?

That lucky ass. "Oh well." I grinned. "At least three's better than one, right?"

"Not exactly…" James pondered. "Mettaton's fight is a battle of outlasting him until he shows his soul to you, or until your ratings go up to a certain amount. Having more people fight at a time will result in having to use more healing items."

"But!" Cinder pointed out. "More people must mean more ratings! And more of us means the more we can shoot at Mettaton's soul, which will make the attacks end quicker!" James frowned, and I could see he didn't really care about the speed of the attacks. Typical patient-colored soul people.

I tried for a smile. "So are you guys ready to flip upside-down?" No matter the circumstance, I had to stay positive for my team.

Cinder and James nodded somewhat eagerly, and we finally entered the door, side by side. It was a close fit, since the door wasn't that big, but I could care less. After walking down a narrow hallway, we were met with the one and only Mettaton. Still in his box shape though, of course. But that would change soon enough.

"OH YES! THERE YOU ARE, DARLINGS!" His entire screen was the color of a dark red, the color of blood. "IT'S TIME TO HAVE OUR LITTLE SHOWDOWN. IT'S TIME TO FINALLY STOP THE 'MALFUNCTIONING' ROBOT." He paused for a dramatic effect. "...NOT!"

"Yeah yeah." I rolled my eyes, teeter-tottering my hands. "Get real. This was all just a big show, an act, she's playing us for a fool, yada yada yada."

Cinder seemed to catch on, and decided to skip his meaningless monologue. "Hey Mettaton, there's something _really_ cool behind you!"

I could swear he was frowning, even though he didn't have eyebrows. "REALLY? WHERE?" He turned around, exposing the big red switch on his back. It couldn't be any more clearly labelled. Cinder lunged forward and activated it before quickly backing away. "CLEVER… VERY CLEVER."

Suddenly, the floor below us turned red and lifted itself straight out of the ground. Platform rising, it lifted us straight into the air. As the wind rushed by my head, I tried to keep my balance. Mettaton seemed to be going berserk, and he held his box shape in his hands to keep from going completely crazy. Suddenly, a huge burst of light shone onto us, and I had to close my eyes to prevent myself from becoming blind. When I opened them, there were two large spotlights positioned right above us. Large clouds of steam (or whatever it was) had formed, and were now covering the form of Mettaton, only leaving a shady impression for us.

" _Ohhhh my_." He contemplated. "If you flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing."

"Oh yes." I rolled my eyes before remarking sarcastically, "We're _absolutely_ desperate to see the new premiere of your body."

"How rude…" Mettaton commented, "But lucky for you, I've been aching to show this off for a long time. So… as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward. I'll make your last moments…" Another blinding flash of light where I was cued to close my eyes.

When they were open again, I was met with the sight of Mettaton in his full form. Jet black hair and tights with a purple colored suit and boots, there was no doubt about him being the perfect TV star. James and Cinder had the same look of awe on their faces. No matter how much we had expected it, it was still pretty amazing to see it for real. Just like every other Undertale wonder.

Mettaton EX smirked when he saw our expressions. "... _Absolutely_ beautiful!"

* * *

 ** _Soggy Fat Face:_ nice story. tell you what, mate. there should an joke alt. story that is like a sh*tty fanfic that is written by a 12-y/o weeb (not you, luckily) that goes like AND AFTER ALL THAT HAPPENED, THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER AND HAD BABIES. HOPE U LILED MY WEBMANGA. PLZ GIVE NO CRITICISM JUST SUGGESTIONS.;; (AUTHORS NOTE: I LIKE FRISK AND CHARA PAIRINGS SO I WILL MAKE ANOTHER ONE FOCUSED ON THAT or something like that, mate. good luck on your story.**

 **And so here is an Alternate _Beginning_ , written by my dear friend _Leaf_! (She doesn't have a fanfiction account, it's just the pen name she likes to go by)**

 **And let me assure you, this is amazing. :D**

* * *

I pouted, and James could only keep looking between us in bewilderment. After a few moments of confusion, he asked to clarify, "So you're not fighting?"

"Basically, yeah." His shoulders slumped slightly in relief, then he died.

Some ducks ran in and sat on his dead body. It was slowly rotting, so they stuck maggot filled sticks into him, making a parasitic nest.

I freaked out, then I died too.

The ducks waddled over and pooped all over Frisk's body, until it became a trash heap of poooooooooop. Stink wafted upwards and mixed with the fumes of heat, which was inhaled by Cinder. Mixing the two substances had made it a poisonous gas, that quickly and painfully killed her, and her body fell onto Frisk and onto the ducks. So the ducks got squashed.

Then Elaine came over, and body flopped onto the pile of shitty stinky deady things… with a :D on her face.

Attached to Elaine's arm had been a rope. It had pulled another person with her, acting as a sort of leash and collar, which ended around Joyce's neck. The force of the body flop had choked her, so she fell dead upon the pile as well.

Ricky flew over on his imaginary wings. Jk, he actually just jumped off from a random cliff overhanging the group of kids, thinking that he could fly, and dropped down a far distance and crushed his brain on the pile.

Another face looked over the ledge. Cowboy. He yelled for Ricky, but when no response came, he jumped after him. He landed on the dead bodies, surviving, but at the cost of broken legs. When he saw all the mangled bodies, and Frisk's horrified face, he pulled out his gun and committed SEPUKUuuUUuuu~.

The ducks squeezed out from under the pile, then turned around to look at their handywork. The pink duck rubbed their wings in a malicious manner, snickering. Then they flabbled off.

Sans teleported on top of the pile. The very stinky pile.

"What the f*************ck?!/!?~~~"

 **Author's message (Leaf): Ducks. Then they died.**

* * *

 **wtf I have _72 followers_ and _I didn't even notice?!_** ** _WHAAAAA?_**

 **Well then now that I have noticed, THANK YOU! :D VERY VERY MUCH! (This story also has _118 Reviews_ so like _YEAH!_ YOU GUYS ARE _AWESOME!_ )**

 **thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyossansishotthankyothanktyyouahtlnayou :3**


	29. Drama! Romance! Bloodshed?

Lights shone, music blared, and cameras turned. The crowd cheered. Mettaton EX danced, making his premiere. Our souls were drawn out, and we immediately flipped upside-down, our souls yellow. Unfortunately, I would not be able to see how James' soul color worked in this battle.

I could tell Cinder and James were getting drowsy just from hanging upside-down, but they would have to deal with it. And… ratings were going down.

"Pose!" I instructed. I moved into a pose, trying to make it as dramatic as possible. Cinder had settled on a "Thriller" pose from _Thriller Night_ , and James just went into a very awkward one. I think I better not describe it. Even still, the audience nodded in approval.

Mettaton performed a couple more complicated dance moves that included standing on tip-toes and swinging his legs around in out direction. "Lights! Camera! Action!" As he made his way towards us, Elaine and James moved away, leaving me to deal with the attack. At least I had some practice from my previous battles and Cowboy. As Mettaton swung his legs around, I swerved and turned, trying to dodge them in the air.

The attack ended, and the ratings were higher. I decided with a pose, and Cinder did the same, except with a much more dramatic aura. Surprisingly, James turned around and scoffed at the cameras and audience, making faces and giving a thumbs-down. Maybe he was scared of getting hit by Mettaton's next attack? The audience booed, and just like that, they were rooting for his destruction.

"Drama! Romance! Blood-shed!" Bombs and tiny Mettaton boxes started to rain from above, cascading down on us. "Things are blowing up!"

With a quick flip of my hand, I managed to snatch my Empty Gun from the side pocket of my backpack before aiming and shooting. Yellow bullets popped out, and I moved as much as I could, avoiding the blast of the bombs. Cinder gracefully managed to avoid them, even upside-down. She shot nothing.

James was not having as much luck. Surprisingly, his handgun (and by hand-gun, I _literally_ mean his hands forming into the shape of a gun) was shooting yellow bullets. I decided not to question how he did it. Unfortunately, he missed a heart attack launched from a nearby box, and was hit straight in the back. With him wincing, Justice and Violence boosted up our ratings. I couldn't help making a face at that. Hopefully, he would be okay.

This time, all of us posed. Or at least attempted to. Despite being hurt, James had managed quite well. The audience applauded for his perseverance. The ratings were getting higher, and at a much faster rate than if it were just one of us. "I'm the idol everyone craves!" Mettaton crowed, raising his arms up and twirling our way. In his mass twirling whirlwind of death, he was aiming for all of us. I moved aside, dragging James with me. He was always so slow, and looked a bit sick. Hair flying, Cinder flipped away with agile grace. Even upside-down, she was careful and controlled.

Cinder stuck with another pose, legs high in the air, increasing the ratings much more than she was supposed to. James did another scoff, obviously not sure about his own success at dodging. I decided to take a chance, and boasted as best I could.

"I'm not going to get hit at _all_." I tried to say convincingly. The crowd cheered.

"Smile for the camera!" Mettaton grinned, sending down more bars and boxes down on us. After a couple of accurate shots and dodging flying hearts, the attack was done. Apparently, all of us were unscathed for the turn, and due to my boasting, our ratings were higher than ever.

All of us posed. I could feel my chest heaving, anticipation filling me. The air was filled with the smell of robotic parts and… Mettaton. Smiling, he announced, "Oooh, it's time for a pop quiz! I hope you brought a keyboard…" I shared skeptical looks with Cinder and James. None of us really had a keyboard… except my computer in my backpack. But did I really want to get that out now, while hanging upside-down? "This one's an essay question!"

A screen behind us flashed brightly, reading, _ESSAY PROMPT: Why do you love most about Mettaton?_ Instead of trying to answer the question, or trying to figure out a way to type on a non-existent keyboard, I found myself scoffing at the terrible grammar.

After an awkward silence, Mettaton pouted. Time was up. "Speechless…? Who can blame you?" He was planning to save our essay for future use, wasn't he? "Your essay really showed everyone your heart. Why don't I show you mine?" Suddenly, the heart from his waist belt popped out, showering dozens of lightning-shaped attacks at us. Blinking at the sheer amount of them, I dodged and shot. Cinder imitated me, with James trying his best as well. We quickly shot the heart down, and a blast later, it had retracted back onto Mettaton's belt, keeping it safe from harm.

"Maybe we could've gotten a few extra shots in." Cinder pouted.

"Nah." James shook his head.

We all posed dramatically, and Mettaton puckered his lips in an unpleased way. "Ooooh, I'm just warming up!" He then continuously shot varied attacks at us, swinging his legs every once in awhile. A couple of times, a disco ball even rose from the ceiling, shooting out beams of white and blue. We had to coordinate on that one to figure out who shot and who didn't, but even that ended up alright.

We were always posing, with James scoffing sometimes, and me trying to boast. Sometimes, it didn't work. But most of the time, we survived. At one point, James had gotten hit continuously by a whole bunch of exploding bombs, rendering him weak and pretty useless. Fortunately, it had been during the Happy Breaktime. I had taken out a chip bag containing our Starfait, and handed it to him to drink. A few gulps later, James was completely well, and our ratings had gone up a bit more, due to the popular brand.

Mettaton started on a whole new spree of fast dance moves. It looked like he was spasming. "We've grown so distant, darling… How about another heart-to-heart?" The heart popped back out of his belt, and this time, squares floated around it in a body-guard type of way. The three of us went back to shooting the object, avoiding projectiles and more lightning-shaped attacks.

And just like that, his arms fell off. They clonked on the ground, rendering useless. The audience gasped slightly, holding their breaths as to see how Mettaton would react.

Nevertheless, he continued to dance, and the ratings continued to increase. We were almost at 10,000 now. "A… arms?" His expression was slightly dark. "Wh… who needs arms with legs like these? I'm still going to win!"

 _Win what?_ Another attack came, a combination of projectiles and bombs. After a few rows of those, it stopped, and then the attacks started to move backwards. It was rewinding. I tried to turn myself around to see the attacks coming from behind, but my soul refused to cooperate with me. Was I only allowed to face forwards as the attack rewinded?

Unfortunately, I had failed to remember the pattern. Cinder seemed to have forgotten as well, but at least she was graceful, allowing herself to rework her way back with quick last-second movements, even without remembering the pattern. For some reason, James didn't seem troubled at all, almost like he _had_ remembered the pattern. Maybe he had been patient enough to actually memorize all the attacks?...

No wonder he was getting hit so much. He was spending too much time keeping track of each and every attack.

But now, he was the one doing fine. I was the one that had no idea where to go, which way to turn. I tried moving to the right, only to get slightly scraped by a projectile. Panicking, I attempted to move left, but this time, a block flew straight into my back. I lost my balance in the air, waving my arms around wildly. I was losing my concentration. Head ringing, more blocks flew into me, each one hurting more than the last. Surprisingly, I had managed to avoid the last row by pure luck.

I panted, hand on chest to catch my breath. My back felt sore from getting hit so much, and I could feel little scratches all over my arms. Next time, I would have to pay more attention to the pattern of the attacks. Cinder and James gave me worried looks, and I attempted to reassure them with a thumbs up. Based on the look on their faces, I probably wasn't very convincing.

Now doubting my dodging skills, I settled on a pose. My back ached from the attempt, but I gritted my teeth and went on with it. Our ratings were going off the charts now, way above just the simple 10,000. "Come on…!" Mettaton urged, sending the same attack again. This time, I followed the attacks as they went past me, attempting to keep track of them. When they started to rewind, I was prepared, and I managed to avoid every single one. Needless to say, I felt rather proud of myself.

"The show… must go on!" Now a whole parade of projectiles and bombs were free-falling from the sky. James and I shot our way through, with Cinder finding holes here and there to make her way through. "Dr… Drama! A… Action! L… lights… C… camera…" Mettaton suddenly shook his head, visibly annoyed. "Enough of this! Do you really want humanity to perish!? ...or do you just believe in yourself that much?" Frustration edged his tone, making him seem irritable.

Another attack came, but I was too focused on answering Mettaton's question. "We don't really _want_ anything, except to pass this area!" Is that really too much to ask?

"Haha, how inspiring!" Mettaton laughed mockingly. "Well, darling! It's either me or you! But I think we both already know who's going to win. Witness the true power of humanity's star!" His soul erupted from the belt once again, but this time bombs surrounded it. James and I immediately reverted to shooting it, and more lightning attacks were bestowed upon us. In the midst of the attack, Mettaton leaped forward to strike us with his boots. We barely managed to move away in time, not with me dragging James away. Cinder was doing perfectly well on her own though, and was even firing with her own hand gun.

And in record time, Mettaton's legs fell off. His face was dark with shock, and I wanted to reassure him. But before I could even do anything really, his face has changed to one of delight. Looking closer, I could see that his eyes had shifted to the Ratings board, and I followed his gaze.

" _OOH, look at these ratings!_ " Mettaton was right, it really was something. The line had literally broken clear out the board, flying up and penetrating out the roof. It was almost funny. " _This is the most viewers I've ever had! We've reached the Viewer Call-In Milestone_!"

"We're awesome." Cinder grinned, giving me and James a high-five. I could feel relief coursing through my body, and I let myself go slightly slack. It would be over soon.

"One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me..." Mettaton teased playfully, sticking out his tongue, "...Before I leave the underground forever! Let's see who calls in first!" After a ring, a phone was was tossed on stage, but I couldn't see who had thrown it. "Hi, you're on TV!" Mettaton shouted at the phone. "What do you have to say on this, our last show?" Then, all the noise died down. The audience was quiet, waiting to hear the caller's response.

For a moment, there was just silence. But then a quiet, sincere voice filled up on the other end. "... oh….. hi… Mettaton…" The caller sounded quiet and surprised, like he was unsure about himself.

"Napstablook." Cinder whispered in my ear, and I nodded.

"i really liked watching your show… my life is pretty boring… but… seeing you on the screen… brought excitement to my life… vicariously." I was more bothered by his intense vocabulary than his message, but Cinder actually looked a bit teary-eyed. Who knew she had a soft spot for depressed ghosts? "I can't tell, but… i guess this is the last episode…? I'll miss you… mettaton…" Napsta suddenly paused, like he had just realized something important. "...oh…. I didn't mean to talk so long… oh…."

"NO, WAIT!" Mettaton stared at the phone, in a kind of desperation. "WAIT, BL…" Mettaton stopped as he stared at the quiet phone.

James gulped, diverting his eyes. "He didn't have to hang up so early."

"H…" Mettaton swallowed to correct himself. "They already hung up." He closed his eyes for a brief moment of peace. "I'll take another caller!" He finally decided.

"Mettaton, your show made us so happy!"

"Mettaton, I don't know what I'll watch without you."

"Mettaton, there's a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart."

Suddenly, the whole crowd started to cheer, nodding their heads to show their agreement. They waved their fists around in encouragement, shouting the most positive and touching things I have ever heard. Their happiness was a bit contagious, as I felt the need to start screaming as well. To join the crowd, to shout with them, to blend in with the happiness and gratefulness pouring out of them.

There was a troubled look on Mettaton's face, one that seemed slightly sheepish. "Ah… I… I see… Everyone… Thank you so much…." He paused to turn to look at the three of us, a look of determination on his face. "Darlings." He started. "Perhaps… it might be better if I stay here for a while. Humans already have stars and idols, but monsters… they only have me. If I left… the Underground would lose its spark. I'd leave an aching void that can never be filled."

Cinder nodded. "Of course."

"So… I think I'll have to delay my big debut. Besides. You all have proven to be very strong. Perhaps… even strong enough to get past Asgore." Hope and a kind of pride shone in his glassy eyes. "I'm sure you'll be able to protect humanity."

"That's not what we're really going for." I pointed out, but Mettaton ignored me, seeming focused on himself.

"Ha, ha…" He laughed lightly. "It's all for the best, anyway. The truth is…"

"Your form's energy consumption is inefficient." Cinder plugged in.

"And in a few moments, you'll run out of battery power." I sighed.

"Well." Mettaton blinked, grinning slyly. "You bunch have always been something peculiar. Always knowing more than you should…"

"Yeah, about that." I frowned. "It hasn't brought us anywhere good, in particular." My thoughts immediately diverted to Sans. If I hadn't known so much, would he have still caught on? Would he still hate me if I hadn't known about anything? Maybe, if I had just started fresh, without knowing or remembering anything, then things could've ended up differently...

"...Just be careful." Mettaton warned.

"But what about you?" Cinder asked. I moved my gaze to James, seeing that he wasn't participating in the conversation. Maybe too patient to interject?

"I'll be alright." Mettaton grinned. "Knock 'em dead, darlings. And everyone… thank you." He turned his head to the ceiling, addressing everyone in the room. Gratitude flooded onto his face. "You've been a great audience!"

There was a huge blinding flash of light, and I had to screw my eyes shut. But even that didn't seem enough to block out the rays, so I ended up covering them up with my arms as well, trying to block out everything, anything.

A moment later, the light was gone. We were back in the tiny room. The cameras, spotlights, and audience were all gone. And in front of us lay Mettaton with just his torso, his arms and legs gone. It was slightly frightening. His eyes were dark and unyielding, and I knew that his battery was finally out. The battle was over.

Suddenly, there was loud knocking from behind us. "I… I managed to open the lock!" The voice was unsteady, and surprised. It was Alphys.

I shared a look with Cinder, and understanding crossed both of our gazes. Based on James' expression, I knew he had comprehended our exchange as well, but wasn't happy about it. Even still, I grabbed his arm and shot him a look, and he reluctantly nodded.

Then the three of us dashed ahead, leaving a decapitated Mettaton behind, and running away from Alphys before she could even have a chance to enter the room.

* * *

 **Recently, I have been reading an _awesome_ fanfiction called _Undertale: The Seventh Soul_ by J.W. Fox! (You should go check him out! His writing is very detailed. :3 ) It's basically a run-through of the last fallen child journey, except with a lot of extra character dialogue and events, not to mention funny thoughts they think up of while journeying through the underground. It might not seem like much, but trust me when I say it's better if you go read it for yourself. :P**

 **And hey, thanks again for reading! I'm getting some writer's block for now, but once we've reached the interesting part, there's no doubt I'll be back and at it again. :) ~Pizza**


	30. Judged

**whhaaaaat it's chapter 30! ! ! welp. you've come a long way, my friends.**

 **...aaaaand i've never written such a long story before. xD**

* * *

The three of us dashed down the halls, quickly taking a right and continuing to the elevators. For some reason, none of us really seemed willing to meet Alphys, because that would result in conversing with her about our weird knowings and such. It might've been better to just skip her for the time being.

Only James seemed bothered. "Why did we have to leave so fast?" He pouted, with me still dragging him along. He wasn't resisting, but he wasn't exactly following along either.

"Too much trouble to stay." I answered simply, following Cinder down the hall as she reached for the elevator button. With a single click, the elevators opened for us. The three of us headed in, with me looking past my shoulder. There was no sign of Alphys.

I finally let go of James. After pressing another button inside, the doors closed and we waited in silence. The noise of the moving elevator was repetitive and annoying, creating a kind of buzzing sound.

Only what after seemed to be a minute did the doors finally open, and the three of us stepped out. The vibrant colors I had gotten used to seeing weren't there anymore. Instead, they were replaced with a dull gray; gray floor, gray stones, gray wall. It brought out a pretty depressing mood.

Then I remembered; we would soon reach Judgement Hall. Would all of us meet Sans there? Would he judge all of us together? Or would we have to enter separately?... Just thinking of talking to Sans again made my stomach tighten. What would I say? What would he say? Would he break from his regular dialogue? Or would he stay same and indifferent, not budging from his own words? The thoughts were making me annoyed and frustrated. Who cared what he thought? Why did I care so much anyway?

The thoughts were making me irritable, and I quietly growled to myself. James was quiet, but for some reason, Cinder took this as her chance to break the silence. "I wish we didn't have to break Mettaton's legs and arms off." She said wistfully.

"We didn't have to." James pointed out, "If we had just earned enough ratings, then blowing off his arms wouldn't even be necessary!"

"But then he would still lose all his battery power." I rolled my eyes. "So the result would be the same."

"Except Mettaton would still have his limbs intact." Cinder pouted.

I could feel myself boiling over. " _What_?" I practically sneered. "Do you want to do it _again_? Except this time, without blowing off Mettaton's limbs?!"

Cinder blinked, obviously confused at my mood. "That's not what I meant-"

"Then what did you mean?" I hissed through gritted teeth. "Did you want me to _Reset_ or something? To load a save, and then fight Mettaton again, just to get your desired ending?" Sans' words were burning through my mind. _Is this just a game to you?_

Cinder frowned. "Frisk, is something wrong?"

I took a deep breath. "This isn't just a game. It _isn't_." _So stop acting like it is._

"No one said it was." Cinder pointed out, looking as confused as James.

I found myself sighing, feeling all the tension leave me in a big swoop of air. "S… sorry. Let's just keep going." I turned around and marched ahead, leaving the two behind to wonder about things themselves.

* * *

For some reason, we didn't take the elevators.

Instead, we moved on to find the exact replica of Toriel's house. The familiarity of it brought a guilty feeling inside me, but I tried to ignore it. No monsters showed up to give us the story of the Asriel, so I figured they had already relayed it to Ricky.

When we first entered the house, all we saw were possessions and surfaces covered in dust. Everything was grey and dull-colored, just like the outside. Asgore obviously had a bad taste in color schemes.

Then, we found the room with the presents. Both of them was already opened, and nothing was inside one of them. But the other one still had something, a golden heart-shaped locket.

The three of us figured that Ricky had already taken the Real Knife, so we didn't think much on it. He hadn't taken the locket, probably due to his lack of liking for girly fashion. Now the biggest question was to choose who could take the locket.

James immediately stepped out, not taking much of a liking for girly fashion either. I didn't really care, but Cinder literally _handed_ it to me.

"You can have it."

I blinked at her. "But don't you want it?"

"You're the soul of determination." She insisted, holding it out for me. It dangled from her hands, the chain clinking and the heart shining irresistibly. "So it practically belongs to you. Take it."

After a moment's hesitation, I accepted it. It was cold, metal. On the heart was an imprint, "Best Friends Forever." It was slightly faded out, and it brought shivers down my spine.

 _Right where it belongs._ Huh? I looked up expectantly, trying to see who had talked to me. But neither Cinder nor James were facing my direction. They were already heading out the room. Then who had said it? It wasn't my thoughts, certainly.

Well, maybe I had imagined it. Maybe I had repeated it in my mind without even knowing. Shrugging, I put the necklace on before continuing after Cinder and James.

* * *

Instead of a Ruins Door, we were met with huge grey cities. All the designs were old like medieval castles, but all of them were gigantic. The buildings stretched on, all the way to the horizon. I had never thought to ask myself what this place was, and what it was doing here. Was it part of the castle? Or was it a completely separate monster city civilization?

No matter what it was, we were at the end now. The door right before the Judgement Hall. Somehow, all of us knew to stop.

"So…" Cinder pondered. "How should we proceed?"

I shrugged. I didn't really know, or care. Maybe going with all of them would make the encounter with Sans less weird? I doubted it. They would start asking too many questions about my silence. Going alone wasn't exactly on my priority list either, so I was troubled.

"How do we even know he's there?" I asked, suddenly doubting.

"Well, he has to be." Cinder pouted. "He's supposed to judge us."

I didn't really want to be judged, but I decided not to say anything.

"All of us could go, one by one." James suggested. "That way, he can judge us all separately."

"That's a good idea." Cinder agreed. "I guess I'll go first then. If I come back, that means Sans isn't there. And if I don't come back, then…" She seemed to be thinking.

"Then we come in and fetch you because you might be in danger?" I suggested hopefully.

"...then it means I'm being judged." Cinder finished, giving me a look. "Give me… what, 10 minutes? Then the next person can come in. I'll be waiting for you guys at the end, okay?"

James and I nodded, then Cinder smiled a farewell before heading through the door of the judgement hall and leaving us behind. After sharing a look with James, we decided to sit down and wait.

"So, does your phone have a timer?"

James scrunched up his face. "I think so." He reached into his pocket to take out an iPhone, opening it and pulling up the clock app. I was surprised it still had battery to work, but I decided not to question it.

"So," I started, a question churning in my mind. "How the heck do you stand being patient all the time? Isn't it annoying?"

James pressed the start button on his phone to start the time. "I don't find what's so annoying about it." He replied simply.

"But doesn't it feel like you're wasting time? And doesn't it feel like your life is just slipping between your fingers as you continue to waste it?"

James looked indifferent. " _You_ shouldn't be the one to talk. After all, you have all the time in the world." _Huh?_

I found myself ready to protest, until the meaning of his words dawned on me. "...You mean the _resets_ , don't you?"

He shrugged. "People like you can afford to make mistakes. But me? I only have one chance. I might as well do it right the first time, no matter how long it takes." I blinked at him, trying to comprehend his words.

"Well…" I huffed, but couldn't find myself to argue. Of course he was right. If only I wasn't the soul of determination, then so many things could've turned out different for me. I could prove James wrong. I wouldn't have to worry about messing with the timelines. My relationship with Sans could still be intact.

James could seem to tell I wasn't entirely convinced. "Good things come to those who wait." He said.

"...Or those who are willing to get up and get shit done." I suddenly frowned. "Isn't that like, a quote or something?"

He smiled. "We'll never know." Then he closed his eyes and laid down. "This may take a while. We might as well catch a nap, right?"

I instantly found myself frowning. " _What_? Of all the times, you decided to sleep _now_?"

"Why not?" I found myself unable to argue, so I just shut up and laid down next to him. And to my surprise, I fell asleep as well.

* * *

The alarm rang, and my eyes flew open.

James was already up, turning the alarm off. "Time's up. You wanna go?"

"No, you can." I still wasn't prepared to talk to Sans. I had no idea what to say, or how to act. _Just act normally, and you'll be fine._ Yeah. That's all I have to do.

"You sure?" He asked, eyebrow raised. I nodded. "Okay then. But uh…"

"You can take all the time you want." I reassured him. "I'll wait like, what, 30 minutes?"

He looked slightly amused. "Not that long!"

"Fine. Twenty minutes max. But after that, I'm charging in."

"Thanks." He pocketed his phone and took slow steps towards the door. Right before he entered, he waved a farewell. I waved back. Then he was gone.

My thoughts immediately wandered off to Sans, and a sudden realization struck me. I had been so angry with him, I hadn't even considered the fact that he might be angry with _me_. Just imagining it made me shake slightly, and I found my fists clenching in worry. No matter how much I hated him, I could always suppress it, and there was the fact that I still liked him. But if _Sans_ hated me…

I doubt I could change his mind.

The idea of the ability to Reset played around in my mind, and I found myself growing unsettled. Did I want this power, or did I not? It was seriously starting to get a little irritating. It was either the power of Determination, or none at all. You couldn't have both.

I played around on my camera for a little while before finding the timer. Setting it to 20 minutes, I laid back down and waited, trying not to think. I didn't fall asleep this time, too apprehensive to, and feeling rather restless. Taking a deep breath, I counted down the minutes that would lead to my fateful meeting with the short skeleton.

* * *

Time was up. I still wasn't sure about what to say. I sighed before turning the alarm off and getting up, wiping my pants. It was time to enter the Last Corridor.

I gulped. My hands were shaking, and I nervously clutched the edge of my shirt to keep the tension down. I combed through my hair one last time, saying reassuring things to myself. A strange feeling was starting to bubble up inside of me. Knowing I was about to meet Sans filled me with _determination._ Then taking a deep breath, I stepped through the doorway.

The hall was very bright, but not in a blinding way. It was more of a comforting color and sense, warm instead of flashy. The pillars on either side were wide and tall, looming up to the ceiling. The light coming from the glass windows reflected off in little rays, beaming onto all the surfaces and onto me. Blinking, I turned to see the end of the hall. There was no sign of the skeleton.

Had he gone? Where was he? Confused, I started to head down the hall, my footsteps echoing upon the orange and yellow tiles. The light continued to shine from who-knows-where, and the hall was oddly quiet. For a moment I stopped, turning my head to see the windows at a better angle. The signature of the Ruins were on them, two wing shapes next to a circle. And underneath, three triangles put next to one another to form a kind of happy face. The sight made me happy too, and slightly less tense.

When I turned myself back around to face the end of the corridor, I saw Sans.

His hoodie was up, so I couldn't completely see his face. However, from what I _could_ see, there was a kind of shadow across his face, though I couldn't tell if it was from sadness or anger. Or maybe it was dread. I wasn't sure what to do, or what to say. The two of us stared at one another until a distant bell started to ring, echoing through the hall in mysterious clangs.

 _Clang. Clang. Clang._

"So you finally made it." Sans said gruffly. "The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together… You will determine the future of this world." So. He was choosing to stay with the game quotes exactly. Again.

This was not how I expected our meeting to go. "I don't care about that." I didn't really care about meeting and beating Asgore. But Sans ignored me.

"That's then. Now. You will be judged. You will be judged for your every action. You will be judged for every EXP you've earned. What's EXP?"

I figured that since the secret about my knowings was already out, there was no need to hide it any longer. "It's an acronym for execution points, right? And LOVE stands for Level of Violence."

"So you already know." He finally pulled down his hoodie, and revealed his face. His eyes were slightly dark, but his grin was wide as ever. He looked a bit tired, as if judging three people in a row was a lot of work. Well, for a lazy-bones like him, it definitely would be.

"... but you. You ever gained and LOVE. 'course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive." He shrugged, and I felt the truth crawling on my skin. I twiddled my fingers, trying to hide it. "Just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. No matter the struggles or hardships you faced… you strived to do the right thing. You refused to hurt anyone. Even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. You never gained LOVE, but you gained love. Does that make sense? Maybe not."

I wasn't sure what to say. The words touched me, but… they were just recited by the game's rules. They were nothing special. I shrugged back at him, choosing not to say anything.

"...now. you're about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. your actions here… will determine the fate of the entire world. If you refuse to fight… Asgore will take your soul and destroy humanity. But if you kill Ssgore and go home… monsters will remain trapped underground. what will you do?" Even if I was actually going to approach Asgore, it wouldn't be a problem. I would just follow the game's rules until I beat Omega Flowey and befriended the Amalgamates.

I sighed. "I've already told you." Hearing that my voice was as small as a squeak, I cleared my throat to talk louder. "I'm not here to kill Asgore. Just to get close enough to the end, and then come back."

Sans frowned. "well then, what the point?" I blinked at him in question. "Why even bother going to the end if you're just gonna head right back? You're obviously going for a reason."

I shook my head, uncertain. "Not really?..." This conversation was getting awkwarder by the moment.

Sans narrowed his eye sockets at me. I wondered how he did that. "And anyways, why would you even want to come back? don't ya have a home or somethin' ya need to get back to?"

I thought about it. I did have a home. My parents and brother would be worried. I even missed them a little bit. But did I really want to leave the Underground? Well, would anyone? No, they wouldn't. Not after this opportunity was finally given to me, I wouldn't be so willing to give it up so quick. Especially if it would mean leaving Sans behind too… I shook my head. "Not after working so hard to get here." I finally answered.

"… well, if i were you, i would've thrown in the towel by now." Of course he would've. "But you didn't get this far by giving up, did you? That's right. You have something called 'determination.'"

I gulped, feeling guilt weigh me down. "...I'm sorry."

Sans blinked at me in question, confusion littering his gaze. "What for?"

"For having this determination. For knowing things. For doing stuff to the timeline." Even though I hadn't really _done_ anything yet. Unable to stop myself, I found myself rambling. "I know I messed things up. I know I did. If it weren't for me, a lot of things wouldn't have changed. You probably hate me now, but it was to be expected, and-"

"Hate you?" He sounded absolutely befuddled.

I frowned, hope sparking in my chest. "Don't you?"

"What is there to hate?" He asked, nonchalantly. "The way I see it, you're just a nosy kid that knows more than they should."

In itself, the way he dismissed me was something to be angry about, but I was more busy being relieved. He didn't hate me? Even after all the things I said to him? I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. It was like I had been forgiven, except for the fact he never saw a need for me to be forgiven in the first place. Maybe it was just his cool ability to brush everything off, like the lazy guy he was.

Man. ...He really was something.

Sans shrugged. "so as long as you hold on… so as long as you do what's in your heart… i believe you can do the right thing."

I smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"For what, kid?"

I wanted to say a lot of things. I wanted to thank him for being so understanding. I wanted to thank him for being so cool, and (mostly) being there for me. I wanted to thank him just for existing, and letting me be with him when I could. But instead, I shrugged and answered, "Just for forgiving me, I guess."

"Alright. And hey, I should tell you something…" Then his words wandered off, and his gaze moved away from me, like he was thinking. A strange color was creeping onto his cheeks, but before I could even identify the color, it was gone, making me believe I had just imagined it. "...Or maybe later. After this mess is over, and once you're back from Asgore." He turned back to me. "We're all counting on you, kid." He winked. "Good luck." And in the blink of an eye, he was gone. The judging was over.

For the longest time, I just stood there, bathing in the sunlight shining from the windows of the hall. Thinking over the events that had just occurred, realizing Sans' forgiveness for me, and knowing that the meeting I had dreaded for so long hadn't even been as bad as I had foretold. In fact...

That had went _a lot_ better than I had expected.

Smiling, I practically skipped out the hall.

* * *

 **Everything was meh to write until the end. I think you can tell why. :)**

 **And thanks again for all your support! Seriously wouldn't have made it to chapter 30 without you guys~ ;P**


	31. The Unexpected

James and Cinder could obviously tell my mood had changed drastically.

"Well, _something's_ got you all happy." Cinder teased, raising an eyebrow. "Now, I wonder what it is? Maybe it has something to do with… a certain skeleton?"

I huffed before playfully shoving her. I was too happy to be annoyed, really.

"Seriously?" James asked in disbelief, giving me the skeptical face. "What did you guys even talk about?"

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Whoever told you we were talking?"

He looked away before mumbling, "...just assumed…"

"But you know what assuming does!" I grinned and waved my finger around before chanting, "It's makes and ass outta you and me!"

Cinder was grinning, my happiness contagious. However, James was grumbling under his breath. "...I've heard that one before."

The three of us had all been judged by Sans, and been given the exact same song and dance. Well, except for me of course, who got a little changes here and there. We were now heading down another dull-colored hallway, moving towards the throne room. Even the grey walls weren't enough to make me depressed.

I hummed, a light spring in every step. I wasn't even sure why I was so happy anyway. It was just a feeling. Of having a relationship repaired with my crush. Sure, I hadn't confessed to him yet, but just knowing that something had been fixed was filling me with determination.

We took a right before meeting a grey sign that said _Throne Room_. This was the place. After we met Asgore and talked things out, we would turn ourselves right around and leave this place behind. Then I could go back to Snowdin and see Elaine again. I grinned just thinking about it. Then Cinder couldn't call me crazy, and I could be reunited with all my friends. I made a face when I thought of Joyce, but I figured a Double J reunion wouldn't be so bad.

There was supposed to be seven of us, right? I started to count off my fingers; me, Cinder, James, Elaine, Joyce, Cowboy… Ricky…

I gulped. I had been so preoccupied with all the things going on that I had forgotten about Cowboy. Guilt wormed its way through me, and I found myself panicking. Where was Cowboy? I hadn't seen him at all after the Undyne fight. But would he be okay? I shook my head to clear the doubts. Of course he'd be okay. After all, he had promised to catch up. He wouldn't go back on his word now, would he?

And Ricky. Where was he? Was he already ahead of us, fighting Asgore? No, he couldn't be. It wouldn't work. Things wouldn't turn out right. Flowey can't be there to turn into Omega Flowey, and then it'll really just be Asgore's death or Ricky's.

A sense of urgency suddenly filled me, and I swerved straight into the Throne Room with my two friends close behind. I was immediately met with a room full of moss and golden flowers. They grew in impossible numerous bunches all around the throne in the middle of the room. However, there was no sight of Asgore.

Cinder and James finally seemed to realize why I was so desperate to hurry up. The three of us rushed past the flowers, trying not to step on them. Towards the back of the room was another throne, covered by a white sheet. It was Toriel's. Shaking my head, I headed out the throne room to be met with another grey cave. I immediately turned right, my friends close behind.

Where was Asgore? Where was Ricky? Were they fighting? I hoped I wasn't too late. We ran to the end of the hall, seeing the final grey door before us. Determination? No, net yet. I have to make sure.

And then the three of us were in the longest hallway I had ever seen. It stretched all the way back, farther than I could ever see, and morphed between a mixture of the colors of black and white. Right in front of us was a large monster in a purple cape, and his hairy yellow head had two horns on it. He was larger than I would've ever imagined. It was Asgore.

Before any of us could even speak, he said with a booming voice, "This is the barrier. This is what keeps us all trapped underground. …" Then his voice quieted down. "If… If by chance you have any unfinished business… Please do what you must. Are you ready?"

I blinked at him, completely confused. "Ready?" For what? To _fight_ him?

"...I see… This is it, then." He turned around, giving us a piteous smile. Then our souls were drawn out, and I floated into the air with James, leaving Cinder on the ground.

"Wait, _what_? No!" I shook my head. "By 'ready', I meant it as a question! I didn't mean I was ready to fight!" I cast desperate glances to James and Cinder, but they only returned with worried ones. We weren't ready to fight Asgore! It was a mistake to come venture in to try to find Ricky.

And speaking of him… where was he?

A strange light filled the room. Twilight was shining through the barrier. It seemed like my journey was finally going to be over, after this inevitable battle. _You're filled with DETERMINATION._

"Human…" Asgore looked up, a kind of sadness on his face. "It was nice to meet you. Goodbye." Then he suddenly lowered his head and brought out a long crimson-colored trident, blowing his cape back and revealing his armor underneath. I realized what he was about to do before he did it.

"No, wait!" I cried. "I don't-"

He threw the trident, and it passed by my head, nearly piercing it. And although it hadn't hit me, I could feel something shattering inside me. Then with lightning speed, he threw two more tridents at Cinder and Joyce, each of them barely missing their heads. Yet their expressions were mirrored with shock, like something important to them had broken.

I tried to get myself to tell him I didn't want to fight, but my words seemed stuck in my throat. He had destroyed our one chance for mercy. Now, we _had_ to fight him. There were no choices left.

The world below us suddenly started to turn into a purple-ish color, with little magenta colored bubbles floating up. There was another trident in Asgore's hands, and he seemed to be purposefully avoiding our gazes. This was bad. Why were we fighting Asgore? Where in the world was Ricky? Was he _dead_?

No way. No, that wasn't possible. He was too athletic to be beaten by the hands of a goat monster like Asgore. Of course he wasn't stupid enough to face Asgore on his own. Or… _was_ he? I shivered just thinking about it. Then where was he? We hadn't seen him even _once_ on the way here.

Cinder and James were shaking slightly, and they looked to me and Asgore with worried eyes. This was my fault. If only I hadn't asked the "ready" question, they we wouldn't have engaged in combat with him. This was all my fault. I had to fix it.

Trying to muster up my courage, I decided to speak as an Act choice, not a Mercy one. Bringing my voice down to a whisper, I said, "I don't want to fight you." I don't even want your soul! Can't we just go back, and pretend this never happened?

Asgore's hand trembled for a moment. Realizing what I was doing, Cinder and James joined in, whispering reassuring words of peace. Then fireballs erupted from Asgore's hands, and I tried my best to dodge them, not willing to get burned to crisp. Cinder was bounding along the floor, expertly avoiding attacks. When I looked towards James' direction, I saw he was perfectly still, completely unmoving. His eyes were closed, and he just floated there looking rather peaceful and at ease. When a fireball came his way and I tried to warn him, it just went straight through him, like he was transparent.

Or maybe he was. Did having a blue soul mean all attacks could go through you as long as you stayed still? I blinked before grinning. That was cool.

We tried again, telling him our wishes not to fight in hushed tones. This time, Asgore's breathing got funny for a moment. Then fireballs raced down from the ceiling in swerving patterns, only leaving a few delicate holes for us to avoid them. One slightly snitched James on the arm, and he whimpered. Had he moved? Then from that single whimper of movement, another fireball singed his hair and he grimaced. If he kept moving, he was going to get fried!

Staring at Asgore, I tried to make my voice as firm as possible. "You need to _stop_ fighting. I don't want to, and you don't want to, so why can't we just come to an agreement?" Then something seemed to flash in Asgore's eyes… recollection. And just like that, his pose wasn't so fierce anymore, and his trident wasn't put so protectively in front of him either.

Masses of fireballs suddenly fell down on us, and I tried my best to avoid them, attempting to copy Cinder's graceful moves. I was doing okay. However, James was not. He was making too many movements, and failing to stay still as fireballs headed his way. As he grimaced, I dragged him away from a fireball just before it hit him.

"Pay more attention!" I growled at him. He just feebly nodded, and I let let go. "We have to fight him now. Just enough to whittle him down to low health so that he doesn't want to fight anymore."

"But won't Omega Flowey show up?" Cinder asked, worried.

"He can't." I said pointedly. "Only three of us are here. Even if he killed all of us, he couldn't turn to his ultimate form. There's not enough souls. Therefore, we shouldn't need to worry."

"But what if…" James gulped. "What if Asgore kills _himself_?"

I blinked at him before scowling. He was right. On runs when Photoshop Flowey didn't emerge, Asgore would always commit suicide. "We can only hope for the best." I finally decided to say.

Asgore's eyes suddenly blinked different colors, ranging from blue or orange. It took me a moment to realize he was displaying his next attacks for us, but I also realized that I had not been paying attention to what they were. Crap.

But just before he swung his trident, James called out, "Orange, orange, blue!" The three of us kept on the move as Asgore swept his transparently orange trident through us, and we stayed still on the last blue swipe. We were safe.

"Thanks!" I breathed. For once, his memorization skills were coming to use.

"Yeah." James grinned.

Then I took a deep breath before taking out my stick, which was still tucked safely inside my backpack for some apparent reason. I still remembered where I had got it from; before I entered Ebbot, and when Ricky challenged Elaine and I. I was fond of these memories, as they were one of the last ones I had before leaving the world above behind.

I smiled before turning my expression to a frown. It was time to fight. Gritting my teeth, I swung the stick, and it bounced harmlessly off Asgore's armor. Cinder took out her pan (from who-knows-where) and clanged it on Asgore's shoulder plate. Useless. James seemed to have no weapon, so I tossed him the Empty Gun. He gave me a look before attempting to fire it. Air came out, which obviously seemed to have no effect. It was an _empty_ gun, after all…

Asgore actually looked slightly amused, which was saying something. More fireballs erupted from his hands, and they came at us in a multitude of different directions. I dodged them all, trying to keep my balance in the process. This time, all of us managed to stay unscathed. It was like a miracle.

This time, I swung my stick at Asgore's muzzle. It gave him a scratch, and he rubbed it quickly, like it had only annoyed him slightly. Cinder bopped Asgore on the head with her pan, and Asgore started to rub his head to soothe it. Then James tried to fire his empty gun again, and air blew into Asgore's face, blowing back his hair so that he looked like some kind of freak show.

I figured we could perform a comedy show if we wanted to.

Now the fireballs were coming at us in circles, shrinking as they zoomed in on us. However, there was always a gap in those circles, and I managed to always find that hole, therefore effectively avoiding Asgore's attacks. However, James was dab-smack right in the middle, with fireballs heading to him in the largest clumps. I could see he was trying to prevent himself from grimacing, but he wasn't very good at it.

After that attack, James was panting heavily. That wasn't good. I quickly snatched the chip bag from my backpack, and opened it to find a slightly-squashed slice of Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie. I quickly took it out and shoved it in James' face. He cast me a glare before reluctantly taking it and eating it in small bites.

The tantalizing smell wafted up to me, and I tried not to snatch it from James just to eat it myself. Looking at Asgore, the smell seemed to affect him as well, like he was being reminded of something. Once again, the grip on his trident was not as hard, and his entire posture sagged a bit. It would be easier to fight him now.

Another large array of fireballs came down on us in curves, and I steered myself away from them. James could now stay perfectly still, and Cinder was still good as ever. I found myself becoming slightly jealous at her amazing dodging abilities, but then I shook the feeling off.

All of us attempted to hack at Asgore again. This time, a piece of his armor actually fell off, which gave me the idea that we were actually doing something. Even James' Empty Gun was useful, if it could only blow air to irritate him.

Asgore threw a whole bunch more of fancy fireball and trident attacks, with us dodging and hitting him in every turn. There even happened to be times when he sent entire waterfalls of fire onto us, and we in return would give him several more bonks to the head. Even James had now realized hitting the enemy with the gun itself would deal more damage. Asgore only snorted with displeasure, warily eyeing his extremely scratched-up chest plate.

Now with all of us working together to fight him, and with his attack and defense dropped so low, he was weakened at a much faster rate than I had expected him to. Then soon, _soon_ … We could leave. We could get over this misunderstanding, and things could go back to normal, down in the underground.

Asgore looked like he was barely able to hold himself up anymore. He was tired and hurt, barely managing to keep up his strong front. He didn't want to fight, obviously. But _we_ had to, or else…

We just had to.

And seemingly, with his last bit of health, we struck him and he knelt down before us, holding his chest. We hadn't killed him though, had we? Seeing that he wasn't turning to dust, I figured that we had dealt just the right amount of damage.

"Ah…" Asgore said gruffly, still kneeling. "... So that is how it is…." The three of us waited for him to continue, and James seemed especially patient. A faraway look suddenly dawned on Asgore's face, and he spoke. "I remember the day after my son died. The entire underground was devoid of hope. The future had once again been taken from us by the humans." He sighed. "In a fit of anger, I declared war. I said that I would destroy any human that came down here. I would use their souls to become godlike… and free us from this terrible prison. Then, I would destroy humanity… And let monsters rule the surface, in peace."

"But you don't have to." I smiled lightly. "You don't have to. We can all live _down_ _here_ , together, in peace."

Asgore gave me a weak smile. "Soon, the people's hopes returned. My wife, however, became disgusted with my actions. She left this place, never to be seen again."

I wanted to tell him how Toriel was doing, and how she had been so nice to me and all of my friends, and just how well she was doing. But I shut my mouth.

"Truthfully… I do not want power." Asgore admitted. "I do not want to hurt anyone. I just wanted everyone to have hope…"

Cinder nodded. "We know." After all, she valued the truth more than anyone.

"But… I cannot take this any longer. I just want to see my wife. I just want to see my child."

"You can." I put in. He could go and see Toriel. He could go and see Flowey.

He ignored my words. "Please… Young ones… This war has gone on long enough. You have the power…" The three of us blinked at him, realizing his words. "Take my soul, and leave this cursed place."

The three of us stood there, silent and quiet. After giving each other a few looks, I chose to speak for all of us. "...No."

"...No?" He scrunched up his face, confused. "After everything I have done to hurt all of you… You would rather stay down here and suffer… Than live happily on the surface?..." Relief and gratefulness suddenly spread across his features.

Of course I wouldn't want to go back to the surface. Down here, there was everything I already needed. Friends, food, laughs, the list goes on. I was already happy here. "Yes." I stood up proudly.

"Human…" Asgore had never looked so delighted. "I promise you… for as long as you remain here… My wife and I will take care of you as best we can."

I nodded eagerly at the idea. "We can sit in the living room, telling stories…."

"Eating butterscotch pie…" Cinder added, a dreamy look on her face. I could imagine it too. Everyone sitting together in the living room next to a warm fireplace, in a big cuddly pile, eating pie and reading snail books, sharing laughs and hugging one another. This could be our peaceful life. That could be our future.

James grinned. "We could be like… like..."

"Like a family." I suggested, casting reassuring looks to Asgore. He grinned happily at us, and started to get up, bringing his arms outward as if to hug us. Our mission was complete. We had fought Asgore and spared him, so now we could all go back, better than ever. But then…

 _But then._

A circle of white pellets surrounded Asgore and struck him straight in the chest.

And as he turned to dust, his soul remained there for a moment longer, grey and small. Shaking, one last pellet struck it, and it split before bursting into a million little pieces. Unretrievable. Unfixable. _Unbelievable._

I blinked and stared, mouth open in shock. I didn't know what to say, how to react. Cinder and James mirrored my expression, and we could only stare at each other as the gravity of the situation sunk in. _What. Had. Just. Happened._

Then from right below Asgore's death spot, rose a little yellow flower with a huge grin. "You IDIOT." He teased. "You haven't learned a thing!"

"What are you doing here?!" I hissed angrily at him, waving my arms around. "What are you even here for? There isn't any souls for you to take or anything!" I voice had increased until it was louder than a shout. "Why did you _kill_ Asgore?!" He ruined it. He ruined our chance to live happily with Asgore and everyone else. And for _what?_ For his own revenge? For his own fun?

Flowey only wiggled his eyebrows. "What do you _mean_ , there's no souls? I found _plenty_ in the basement."

In the basement? Did he meant the one full of coffins? Looking back, I realized we had never checked out the basement, only heading straight into the throne room to find Ricky. I suddenly sucked in a breath as I saw three souls float out from behind Flowey. One orange, one purple, one yellow.

Ricky?...

Joyce?!

 _Cowboy?_

I could feel my mind whirling, the world was spinning, my thoughts jumbled all into a big scoop. Ricky was _dead_. Had died. From Asgore. For how long? I didn't know. Joyce? Probably the same fate. And Cowboy. What had he died from?

 _Undyne_. The thought flashed through my mind, so quick I almost missed it. Of course. He had a yellow soul, so he couldn't escape from Undyne. He was forced to fight her until he died. Until he _died._

Why hadn't I stayed behind? Why had I left him, to fend for himself all on his own? I felt my reality crumbling under me, forcing my sanity to go berserk. It was _my_ fault. If he wasn't trying to… if it weren't for me… if only I had… I blinked back tears.

He had promised. To catch up to me. In a way, he hadn't broken it. He had caught up to me. _Dead._

Cinder looked just as shocked as I, staring at the purple soul behind Flowey. "...Joyce?" her voice was small and incredulous, like she couldn't believe her eyes. There was a conflicted and guilty look on James' face, and it looked almost as if he were hiding something.

"But still!" James stuttered, seeming to be the only one who could manage a sentence. I could barely hear him over the terribly loud ringing in my ears. "You only have three souls! You need seven!"

I realized James was right. Flowey only had three present souls, and that wasn't even half of the needed amount. Only six of us were present here, not even counting me, since I could Reset afterwards. Elaine was safe at the skelebro's house, unless Flowey personally brought her here, which seemed unlikely. So basically, no matter what tricks he pulled, he wouldn't be able to pull this off.

Flowey switched his look to James, sneering. "You of all people should know that that's not true." Then his face turned to the ugliest one I had ever seen, and I just _knew_ he was about to do something.

" _Duck_!" I suddenly shouted, moving down, and Cinder followed suit.

Only James didn't. "Hm?..." He asked to clarify, taking his time. "Did you say du-" Wind rushed over my head, and a _huge_ thorny branch sailed right over us, striking straight into James' abdomen. His face was empty and shocked at the impact, and Cinder and I stared back in equal shock.

He died from his very own patience.

James gagged, and blood splattered onto the ground in little crimson splotches. Cinder screamed, her eyes closed, but I didn't hear. I couldn't hear. Laying right in front of me was James, still with the thorny branch through him, and his eyes glassy. A second ago, _just_ a second ago, he was alive and talking and smiling and now…

He was dead.

 _He was dead._

They were all dead. He was dead they were dead they're all dead and no one is-

"You still don't have seven." I gulped, bringing up my courage to face Flowey. Cinder brought her hand onto my shoulder, and I realized I was glad for her company. Even though it was like she was the only one left. One misstep, and she would've earned the same fate as James. "Only four. That's not enough."

"You think I don't' know that?" Flowey grinned, bringing more vines around James to pull him up. A single vine brought out a light blue heart, small but glowing faintly. The large thorny branch finally retracted, and I turned my head away, afraid to see if there would be a remaining hole there in James' stomach. More blood dripped onto the ground, forming small disgusting puddles. "I'm not an idiot like _you_. However, your little lying friend here has been holding a stowaway ever since you've reunited with him."

I blinked in confusion until one of Flowey's vines reached into James' pockets and took out a little glowing object. At first, I didn't know what it was. It was tiny but bright, shaped like a heart and glowing a bit of green light…

Horror seeped into my skin. "That's not who I think it is. That _can't_ be who I think it is." I found myself slowly backing away on the floor, trying to get as far away as possible from this reality before me. It wasn't true. It wasn't real. Flowey was messing with me. James would never-

Cinder finally managed to speak. " _Who_?" She whispered in a frightened tone. "What do you mean by 'who?' " Her face was pale and she looked shaken up, like she couldn't believe what was happening. What had happened to James. What had already happened to everyone.

"Hm…" Flowey made an amused look, adding the green and light blue heart to his growing collection of souls. "It looks like I have _five_ souls now. It looks like I just need two more." His grin turned sly as he turned to us.

"Elaine…" I said, the words feeling empty in my mouth. "Elaine is… _dead?_ " Not safe in the skeleton's house? But here, already dead? And being carried along like an object along with James, _the whole time_?

And that's when I remembered James' actions, and everything made sense now. His discomfort when I asked where Elaine was, the guilty expression he made when he answered me, and the tone he had just used when speaking to Flowey. He had lied to me _on purpose_.

What had she even died _from_? What was so terrible about the truth, that James had directly kept it away from me? Kept away the truth of a friend's _death_?

But why? _Why?_ The world's unfairness started to cover me like a thick blanket, strangling me until I felt like there was no escape. The only person keeping me from going insane was Cinder, whose supportive hand was still on my shoulder.

"In this world." Flowey started, grinning evilly. "It's KILL or BE killed." His facial features started to droop like black gloop, until his face couldn't even be recognized anymore. Letting out one last cackle, the five souls entered him, and right before me, the world went black in a flash of blinding white.

* * *

 **Heehee... was that expected? :)**

 **If it was, I seriously congratulate you on being so perceptive.**


	32. Photoshop Flowey

**Ha-ha, longest chapter yet. This will be the second-to-last chapter of this story. The next one is already well on its way! :)**

* * *

I felt empty, and disconnected to myself. What had happened? Where was I? My eyelids opened, and I was met with blackness. It was so black, oh so black. I could see nothing, say nothing, feel nothing, do nothing, hear nothing-

"F-Frisk?" Cinder's voice echoed through the darkness, bouncing off the invisible walls of this endless black space. Apparently, I _could_ hear something.

"I-I'm here!" I called back, trying to get up. I realized I was holding a stick, the one I used to fight Asgore, but that was it. No backpack, no nothing. It was strange, because even though everything was black, it still felt like I was walking on something, like a dark transparent floor. "Where are you?" I yelled into the blackness.

"H-here!" There was suddenly a hand put onto my shoulder, and I jumped slightly before turning around. Fortunately, it was just Cinder. Her face was tear-streaked, and her hair looked messy as a bird's nest.

The two of us hugged one another, not wanting to let go. The embrace was warm, and it was the only comforting sense I could receive at a time like this.

"I-I can't believe…" Cinder sniffled, and then I suddenly remembered.

 _They were all dead._

The realization brought a heavy pang into my chest, and I stared at the darkness uneasily, still clinging onto Cinder and with her clinging onto me. We were the only ones left now. The only ones still unaffected by Flowey's terrible wrath, and still alive in this terrible world that had been brought upon us.

The realization of James' death still rung in my head, and and I tried to shake it away. But then the realization of Cowboy and Elaine's death were brought into my head as well, overwhelming me with a whole wave of emotions. Unable to control myself, I cried. And Cinder cried with me.

Because for now, it would just be the two of us.

* * *

"Okay." Cinder sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know." I admitted. Everything was black, and there didn't seem to be any kind of destination in any direction. "At this point of the game, I'm supposed to find a save point."

"I'm surprised it ever got this far in the first place." Cinder sighed, and I nodded in agreement. We had only wanted to meet Asgore and leave, not to fight him and meet Flowey and see all my dead friends' souls get absorbed by him.

"We went a little far." I admitted.

"Hey," Cinder prodded my arm, looking curious. "Wouldn't it be better if you just loaded a Save, right now?" I blinked at her, and Cinder frowned back. "You _can_ do that, right?"

"Uh… I think so. But I haven't tried it before."

"Oh, well. You can try now, right?"

"Right." Then I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do. "How am I supposed to load a Save?"

Cinder put her hands up. "Don't ask me! I'm not the one that can do it."

I crossed my arms, trying to think. How did Frisk ever Reset or load Saves? I had no idea. Did she just close her eyes, then think about loading saves? Or did she make a Reset button just appear in front of her? Or maybe it would only work if I died? I shut my eyes, trying to block out distractions. I needed to focus. I just had to load a save, and then we would go back in time, right before we…

I suddenly blinked, realizing when the last time I saved was. It was right before the three of us had entered the Throne Room.

And at that moment, Elaine's soul had been hiding inside James' pocket.

So that being said, I couldn't load a save. It would only go back to a time when one of my friends were dead already. It wouldn't work. It looked like I was going to have to _Reset._

I shook my head, and Cinder gave me a look. "You don't know how to load a Save?"

"I don't know how to Reset." I grumbled.

Cinder sighed. "Well, maybe you can't do anything while we're in _here_." She gestured to the blackness around us.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think Resetting or Save loading can happen while Flowey has us trapped here. I think we'll have to wait until after we defeat Omega Flowey." She grinned at me. "Then you can try to Reset."

Huh. Yeah. I sighed before turning back to face the void. It loomed before us in a daunting way, almost like it were telling us there was no escape. No way to get out of this unavoidable fate that had befallen upon us.

Then an idea suddenly sparked in my mind. "Gee, this place kinda looks like a void."

Cinder looked around, letting the scene draw her in, and being oblivious to my hidden intents. "Yeah, I guess."

"Man." I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "I would _totally_ tell you a joke about the void right now, but I'm afraid it's _endless_."

Cinder gave me a look. A very long look. After a few moments, I wondered if she had even got the joke. I was just about to explain it to her until she broke into laughs.

"What in the heck?" She giggled, and I could see she was trying her hardest not to push me over. "Even now, in these life-threatening moments, you chose to tell a _joke_?"

"More of a pun than a joke, really." I grinned. It made me feel good to make someone else laugh. Maybe that was why Sans always told jokes all the time. Just thinking of him made me feel better.

Cinder's laughs eventually died down. "You really are just like Sans." She finally said.

"Glad you finally noticed." I smiled, feeling something creep up inside me. It was warm and full of hope, and I could feel my mind relaxing and my bruises healing. It took me a moment to realize what it was. _Determination._

But then it shattered, and I felt like a bullet had pierced straight through my heart. I lurched upwards, trying to hold down the hurt. Cinder gave me an incredulous look as another hammer seemed to strike down on my determination, forcing it down and breaking it. Until there was nothing left.

 _File erased._

Suddenly, an explosion could be heard within the void, and an all-too-familiar flower head projection poked its way out of the darkness. I could feel anger building up in me, and disbelief clouding my gaze. The face of Flowey glitched for a few moments, before he greeted us. "Howdy!"

"It's _you_!" Cinder shouted accusingly, pointing her finger at Flowey angrily. I had never seen her temper so high. The death of Joyce had really seemed to take a toll on her. Then, she literally jumped up and tried to leap for him, but since her soul wasn't out, she didn't jump as high as she had intended to. In the end, she just looked like she was making a fool of herself. Flowey seemed to realize it too, and grinned amusedly.

"It _is_ me, Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" He stuck out his tongue teasingly. I hadn't known flowers had tongues, but I guess I learn something new everyday. "I owe you all a _huge_ thanks. You guys really did a number on that old fool. Without you, I _never_ could have gotten past him. But now, with _your_ help…" His face drooped into a menacing black gloop. "He's _dead._ And thanks to you, I've got all the human souls!" He cackled and I flinched involuntarily.

I growled. "You don't have all of us yet! You still don't have me!"

"Or me!" Cinder yelled. "And you never will, you overgrown ugly weed!"

"Boy!" Flowey teased, seeming undaunted by our insults. "I've been empty for so long… It feels great to have a soul inside me again. Mmmm," Flowey winked. "I can feel them wriggling…"

Hope flashed through me, and I looked to Cinder. The souls were struggling! My friends were trying to escape! Maybe if we all worked together, Flowey could be defeated much more quickly.

"Awww…" Flowey's head suddenly turned to Cinder, who was still jumping. "You're feeling left out, aren't you? You _really_ want your soul out to try to defeat me, hm?"

"If my soul was out, I would've already shredded you to pieces!" She growled threateningly.

"Well, that's just perfect. You want to fight, I want to fight." He seemed to be rolling his eyes. "After all, I only have five souls. I still need two more… and once I do…" He grinned, smile growing wider. "Monsters." His gaze mocked innocence. "Humans." He imitated Frisk's expression. "Everyone." His face expressions all turned to O's, spinning in meaningless circles. "I'll show them all the _real_ meaning of this world."

Flowey's face suddenly glitched out of the void, and I thought he was gone. But a moment later, he was back again. "But don't worry. Your old friend Flowey… will _save_ over your own death." He started cackling maniacally. "Then you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces… Over, and over, _and over…_ "

But that was okay. I could deal with that. He was just reciting game lines, which meant the events probably continued the same way too. If that was true, then beating Flowey would be no hassle. Feeling somewhat determined, even though my save file was gone, I stepped forward with Cinder right next to me.

"...what?" Flowey's expression was of utter disbelief before it morphed into glee. "Do you really think you can stop _me_? Hee hee hee…" He grinned smugly at us. "You really _are_ an idiot."

Then suddenly, Flowey's face was gone, and our souls were drawn out. I flew up, and looked down, expecting to see Cinder on the ground and ready to fight. But instead, I earned an apologetic glance.

"You can do it, Frisk!" She called out, "Just stay determined!"

"Huh? What do you mean-" And just like that, Cinder plummeted from the air, and fell down into the abyss below, leaving no trace of her behind.

Her empty words echoed in my mind. _Stay determined!..._

She had known she would fall. She had known she would die. Where had the ground of the void gone? I flew down and tried to feel for a floor, but there was none. It was like it had disappeared with the drawing out of our souls. Once again, one of my friends had died from their own soul.

I knew I should've felt remorse, but there was none. There had been so many deaths already that this one just felt like another to add to the pile. Nothing but another death. Shock was clawing its way through my chest. There was no place to run, no place to hide. There was no hope. And I was all alone.

Suddenly hearing popping noises from behind, I turned around and saw six different colored souls flying right in front of me. My friends. Gasping, I leaped forward to try to grab them, but then they all disappeared, leaving me behind in an empty darkness. The only color I could see was the light pulsing from the red heart in front of me.

But then suddenly, that wasn't the only red I could see. In the next moment, the whole void was flashing red and black, and a huge dark figure approached from the abyss. And when I say huge, I _mean_ huge.

Shock and fear travelled through me, and I gulped as the figure drew closer. It was bigger than an elephant, bigger than a skyscraper. Eyes wide, I noticed some long objects sticking out of the figure, like the arms of a large spider. Thank goodness I didn't have arachnophobia.

A huge screen atop the spider-figure suddenly lit up, displaying an innocent dorky smile. That is, until the eyes split into terrifying green and red colors of death.

It took me a moment before I realized they were the colors of Christmas, and I chided myself for it.

Then the whole figure was suddenly clear, revealing itself to me. I was confronted with a huge pink mass with green things sticking out all over it. A nasty mouth full of teeth, four eyes staring evilly at me, green plants growing out of its cactus arms, and a whole mess of wires shooting out from behind it, like some kind of robot.

Flowey cackled loud and clear, allowing the whole world to hear his terrible voice. It echoed through the void, making my ears ring and my head swim. The screen and pink mouth laughed with him, vibrating in twitchy movements.

The first attack came more quickly than I expected. Entire circles of pellets surrounded me, and I knew it had begun. Ducking down, the first few exploded over my head, but more circles were forming beneath me. Gritting my teeth, I dodged to another side to avoid flying projectiles. Then suddenly, vines were launching my way, and I kept on the move. It didn't seem too bad. Maybe if I kept this up, I could beat Omega Flowey easily. I just had to last until the first soul attack came up…

Entire barrages of white ninja stars started flying my way, and I immediately knew I was screwed. They came in completely unpredictable patterns, and I couldn't duck under them like the other attacks, since they seemed to be coming from everywhere. Taking deep breaths, I ducked and swerved and flew. One scratched me on the arm, another bumped me on the leg, and more than a couple swiped over my hair.

If only Cinder was still here. If only I could dodge as well as she could.

Flamethrowers erupted from out of nowhere, shooting red-hot flames in my direction. I knew they would burn before they even touched me. I tried to fly away, but then another one appeared in front of me, shooting flames in my face. I screeched as I tried to get away, hoping they didn't hurt me that much. If I could just get away fast enough, then maybe the fire wouldn't take effect fast enough and-

I ran straight into a pellet.

Yelping, I could already feel a bruise forming on my head, but I had no time to dally. Feeling sick, I launched myself to the side again, avoiding more attacks. There was just too many, so many, so overwhelming, way too much-

The attack was over, and the screen above started to flash WARNING as a light blue soul went onto display. It was James' soul. The first soul battle was about to commence.

Suddenly, Omega Flowey was gone, replaced with little white swords spinning in all directions. Gulping, I tried to avoid them, but they were unpredictable, and it almost felt as if they were leaving me no way to avoid them.

 _It's okay… just slow down._ I blinked, staring at the darkness, and barely avoiding the next knife. Was that a voice in my head? I took a deep breath, and stared at the knives more carefully, observing the way they moved around. Then I noticed, they were all put together in little array patterns, all spinning in the same direction in the same way. Feeling patient, I let myself follow along with the knives instead of trying to avoid them. And it worked.

"Help!" I called out to the darkness. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, all the knives came to a stop and trembled in place. And in a flash, they had all turned to green band-aids, flying my way. Awed, I reached my hand out to them, and when they touched me, they dissolved like water evaporating into the air. I could feel patience filling me, and the warm serenity of it keeping me at peace. I was filled with _patience._

Then Flowey was back, and with more attacks than the last time I met him. He sent missile-like bombs flying from above, and they erupted into flames as the fell down below. Then venus fly-traps appeared, luring in ugly flies as they flew around me. And then he was back to launching vines and ninja stars and pellets. But the whole time, I was patient. I could feel myself reading every attack perfectly at the loss of some health, but who cared if it could prevent myself from getting hit the next time?

And then, the attacks were over and the screen was glowing with the next soul color, orange. As Flowey went away, I prepared myself. The next soul up was Ricky.

Gloved hands forming in small circles started to float in my direction, and they expanded and contracted. Sometimes the circles were big, sometimes they were small, but they kept changing size, and I suddenly felt small. Very small. What if the gloves squashed me as I went in between them? What if they pressed down on me until I was nothing more than a pancake?

 _Take risks… be brave!_ The voice again! Trying to heed the advice, I took a deep breath and headed straight into the middle of a cluster of gloves. A moment later, they were closing in on me, about to squash me. But in the next second, they were spreading out again, and feeling brave, I headed to the next circle clump.

"Help!" I shouted, and then the gloves started to slow down. In a flash, they all turned to green thumb-ups, and I reached out for them. Once again, my injuries were healed and with every touch, I felt stronger and bolder. I knew that I could beat anything, and take on anything that came my way. I was filled with _bravery_.

Flowey again, and he was back to throwing ninja stars and shooting vines. But I wasn't afraid. I could deal with him, and I could beat him. In many close-calls, I took the risky routes to escape, but managed to avoid the loss of more health than if I hadn't taken it. It was good to take chances, as long as it prevented more loss of health than necessary.

Flowey was done, and the next soul was displayed. A dark blue heart; Cinder's. I could see her falling to her death again, giving me that apologetic look and those last words… I clenched my fists, and tried to block out my feelings. I couldn't let them take hold of me during this fight. As Omega Flowey went away, stars covered the world from above and below me. And then huge ballerina shoes started coming my way, stomping and lifting in what seemed to be no pattern whatsoever. Narrowing my eyes, I tried my best to avoid them, inching my way between the shoes.

This stunk. It was almost as if I were stuck on the ground, and there was no way for me to fly away due to the stars blocking the way. Growling, I barely sidestepped another shoe as its point struck downwards. It reminded me of how Cinder usually walked around, always seeming light-footed and graceful. But now, she was-

No. I wasn't going to think on that. I was going to think of different things. _No, be true to yourself._ I blinked. How could I be true to myself? I wasn't exactly lying… unless it held a metaphorical meaning. But what did it mean?

Maybe… maybe it wants me to accept what happened. To understand what occurred, and to stop dwelling on it or pushing it away. I just had to accept it. That was all. I sighed, thinking. Cinder was gone, and everyone else was too. There was no use hiding it. And for the time being, there was no way to bring them back. There was nothing I could've done to prevent their deaths. It wasn't my fault.

I could feel tension building up in me. "Help!" I cried out, trying to run away from the stomping and twirling of feet above me. The feet of Cinder, dancing above my head. She was gone, yes. But after this was over, I was going to get her back.

And then the feet stopped before rising high above me and revealing a whole mass of green musical notes, free for me to take. Delighted, I flew up to touch the notes, and each one gave me hope for a brighter future ahead of me. I was filled with _integrity._

Omega Flowey again. Now, huge masses of green blobs with teeth were bouncing around the place. Giant and unpredictable, they left behind disgusting trails of goo everywhere. Feeling disgusted, I tried my best to avoid them, but undoubtedly got some on my arm. Once again, extremely gross.

Flamethrowers and pellets tried to get at me, but I felt lighter now that I had accepted the truth. Less weight seemed to be on my shoulders, and there was a sense of relief deep inside me. It was always better to accept the truth than to hide it from yourself, I knew that now.

Next up, purple-souled Joyce. Feeling annoyed at the enemy I had to face, I watched as I was surrounded by a whole bunch of books. They circled me as words erupted from their pages. Each one spelled out terrible things, like _terror, corrupt, ruin, hatred, cruelty, murder…_

I felt dizzy as the words continued to march in my direction. _Despair, sadness, destroy, horror, nightmare, murderer, sadness, doom, death, slaughter…_ All these negative feelings. Were they part of Joyce's, or were they just part of the game? I could feel the hope draining from me like water running down a sewer pipe. Going, going, gone…

 _Don't give up! Keep going!_ I stared at the words of depression, moving along their own ways, trying to hit me from behind when I'm not watching. So far on this attack, I hadn't been hit once. So maybe if I just kept it up, I could make it out? I could feel a kind of fire build of inside of me, and it told me to keep it up. It told me not to give up.

"Help!" I shouted, and then the words came to a stop before transforming into green words of positivity. _Calm, mercy, love, life, create, success, happiness…_ Each one I touched made me less daunted at the task ahead of me. Hope built up in me, and I was filled with _perseverance._

Back to Flowey. More bombs dropped out of the sky, and finger guns were relentless as they shot flowers and more fingers at me. I tried not to gag at them. After all, if I just kept going, I would eventually finish this. I knew I would be able to finally end this, as long as I didn't give up. I would make it.

The screen was flashing again, and this time a green heart showed up. Elaine. An array of pans suddenly appeared from above, flinging flames up before gravity started to take control of them and they headed down to me. There were so many flames, and way too many of them. It was almost as if they were furious with me, and a couple singed me on the arms. I grimaced, trying to figure out why my friend Elaine was hurting me.

 _Always be kind. Sometimes, kindness is all you can give. Sometimes, kindness is enough._ I blinked, staring up at the pans, and hearing the words ring in my ears. Flames still rained down on me, but now I saw them differently. They were dancing.

Smiling, I whispered, "Help." Then the flames started to slow, and just like that, entire pan-fulls of green eggs started to fall upon me. Reminded of green eggs and ham, I reached my hands up to touch the eggs, and with each touch I felt fuller and more like myself. _I was filled with kindness._

Flowey was back to throwing projectiles at me, but I couldn't take myself to care much anymore. He was just a sad, misunderstood Asriel, trying to get the world to understand his misery. It wasn't his fault. Things had gone on unfairly for him, so now he was doing things to take out his anger, so it was okay. It was okay.

And then the screen was flashing a yellow heart and it almost felt like my heart stopped. It was Cowboy's soul. Guilt started to crawl on my back, and my breaths came in shallower breaths. Despair filling me, I watched as a huge gun appeared in front of me, and as it aimed straight at me.

I barely leaped aside as a huge bullet flew past the area I had just been standing in. Huffing, I looked behind me to see target signs, the places where the gun would be aiming. So as long as I avoided those, I would be okay.

 _Nothing's okay until Justice is served!_ The familiarity if the tone reminded me of Cowboy, and a new sense of feeling struck me. Omega Flowey was at fault, and we had done nothing to him, so therefore, all the things he was doing was unjustified. He had to be punished! And I could only do that after I had defeated him.

A new sense of pride was filling me, and I raised an arm before calling out, "Help!" Then the gun started to slowly vibrate before it went to shoot out green clovers and as the targets turned to hearts. These were harder to reach for, and I felt myself mentally cursing Cowboy for making things so difficult, but each one I touched filled me with a stronger feeling than I had imagined. They made me feel proud, like all my actions were worthwhile, as long as they held a meaning behind them. Each one filled me with the sense of _Justice._

The gun was gone and I expected the overgrown weed to come back, but instead, six souls appeared before me. Filled with awe, I watched as they spun together in harmony before coming forward to surround me. I could feel all my friends inside their souls, all our hearts beating as one. Smiling, I watched as they each sent me loads and loads of healing greens to boost me up. To support me. To be there for me. They were lending their strengths to me, helping me to fight the common enemy. I could feel their love and their warmth shared to me, and it filled me with… _determination._

And almost as if they were biding me one last farewell, they spun away slowly, lingering just outside my sight before disappearing.

And then Flowey was back. But I could tell he was weak. After all, the souls weren't on his side anymore. And just like that, every attack felt slower, easier to dodge. I felt controlled, in power, and I knew what I was doing. Hope filled me up to the brim, and gratefulness to my friends spilled all over me. None of Flowey's attacks seemed to daunt me, and then I knew it was my turn.

My hand. The stick. Staring at my fist, I realized I was still holding the stick. Had it always been there, or had it just appeared? I grinned when I realized I didn't care, and I threw the stick at Flowey. It seemed to bounce harmlessly off its face, but the flinch it gave was obvious enough.

He sent more ninja stars at me, but I wasn't done with him yet. A small toy knife was now in my hand, and I swung it at one of Flowey's arms. Dropping the knife, I watched as the cactus arm trembled from the impact. Feeling proud of myself, I didn't watch my back as a ninja star hit me from behind.

 _Ouch._ But right at that moment, a band-aid flew from the air, and I grasped for it. Warmth and gratitude filled me. My friends would always be there for me in my moments of doubt. They were always going to be there for me, and I had to be strong for them. I had to last 'til the end _for them_.

There was suddenly a glove on my hand, and drawing back my arm, I gave Flowey's muzzle (or whatever it was) a big punch to the face. It growled angrily, and the glove disappeared. Flowey continued to send the same attack at me, almost like it couldn't think for itself anymore. Not minding the change of skill needed for the battle, I could feel my tennis shoes being replaced with the ones needed for a ballerina. Feeling graceful as ever, I kicked him in the face again. Flowey's pink mouth snorted angrily, and I grinned as the shoes disappeared. A book suddenly appeared in my hand, and finding no use for it, I flung it at Omega Fowey. It landed in his mouth, and he coughed it up sourly.

Almost as if he were feeling desperate, Flowey started to send more advanced attacks at me. They went from huge masses of green balls to missle bombs to finger guns and then when it seemed like things couldn't get worse, he started to combine multiple attacks to create even bigger combos of impossibility. But I never lost hope, because whenever my health was low, a bit of health regeneration would always be sent my way.

A frying pan appeared in my hand, and I sent it flying at Flowey. It bonked him on the nose, and he snorted. There were more flies, more flamethrowers, more vines, but all the while, I stayed determined. I could tell Flowey was weak, and I knew I didn't need much more to take him down. With a last weapon appearing in my hand, a gun, I pointed upwards and aimed before firing.

The bullet hit, and all attacks ceased. The screen above Flowey shook, trembling as it seemed to realize the truth of what had just happened. I grinned before placing my hands on hips. I had done it. With all my friends' help. I did it.

"No… NO!" Flowey's screech echoed in the darkness. "This _can't_ be happening! You… _You_ …" I felt my smile falter as I realized what was about to happen.

And then the most stupidest meme face I had ever seen was displayed on Flowey's screen, and he grinned smugly as I stared at him. He looked completely unharmed, as if nothing had ever hit him at all. And it was true.

He had loaded a save.

"You _idiot._ " And then his mouth opened and before I could even do anything, the largest plasma beam I had ever seen zapped straight onto me. Screaming, I could feel my body demetalizing into nothing. But then I was back again, from Flowey's reload. I tried to get away this time, but the vines followed me, choosing to pierce me directly through the flesh. I gasped as ripping pain seared through my body. This was the pain James felt when his soul was taken. This was what he had to go through when he _died._

Flowey continued to reload, over and over again. Killing me each time with the same merciless tactics. Each time hurt more than the last, almost as if the wounds stayed with me after every loaded save. He did it so many times, I lost count. Then the reloads and the kills got faster and faster, until the pain was nothing more than a continuous stream of hurt and death.

And then, he finally stopped. Groaning, I clutched myself as I curled into a weak little ball. As if I wasn't hurt enough already, a whole circle of pellets surrounded me, taunting me.

"Hee hee hee." Flowey practically giggled. "Did you _really_ think you could defeat _me_!? You're _hopeless._ Hopeless and alone… Golly, that's right!" Flowey's face suddenly appeared on the screen. "Your _worthless_ friends… can't save you now."

What? No, they still could! I could always count on them. Right? I tried to find the energy to protest, but my body felt completely drained, and I couldn't move. Stupid Flowey.

"Call for help." He grinned smugly. "I dare you. Go cry into the darkness! See what good it does you!"

Facing upwards, I finally managed to get something out. "Help…"

I waited… _but nobody came._

And for a moment, Flowey had actually looked doubtful of himself. But in the next second, his smug expression was back on. "Boy!" He smiled. "What a shame! Nobody else is gonna get to see you _die!_ " Laughing loudly, the pellets surrounding me started to close in, and I could feel dread filling me. My friends would show up, wouldn't they? They wouldn't leave me here to fend on my own…

Then right before the pellets touched me, they disappeared. Flowey's screen face was priceless… but my camera wasn't with me. Again.

"What?" He said disbelievingly, "How'd you…?" I grinned innocently at him, and he sneered. "Well, I'll just…" I waited, and nothing happened.

"What is it, Flowey?" I grinned. "Your powers gone?"

"Wh…" I could see that Flowey was sweating profusely. "Where are my powers!?"

Then in a flash, six souls surrounded Flowey. All my friends were back! Smiling in delight, I couldn't help jumping up and letting out a _whoop!_

"The souls…?" Flowey gasped, "What are they doing?"

Well I knew what they were doing. In the next moment, the world started to spin around me, and the souls vibrated before turning in their own rapid circles around Flowey. They were rebelling. Glowing a multitude of explosive colors, Flowey bellowed and thrashed around desperately.

" _No_! NO!" He screamed. " _You can't do that! You're supposed to obey me!_ "

"Not anymore!" I yelled, trying not to let the spinning room get to me. There was now a loud whirring sound in the background, and I wasn't sure where it was coming from. Even the crazy colors the flower was emitting was a bit much to take in. Things were moving so fast, I could barely see anything anymore.

" _Stop_! STOP IT! STOOOOPPPP!" Then the world started to slowly turn white before me, and not much later, the whole world was so bright, I couldn't see a thing.


	33. RESET

**And the long-awaited final chapter is here.**

 **P.S. I dunno if this will change anything, but if you listen to Memory (from Undertale) while you're reading this, I think it makes things a bit better. :)**

* * *

I blinked, taking in the situation. I was in a dark room, but fortunately not in the void. In front of me was a patch of green grass, and growing there was a single large flower. Scathed and seeming torn in certain areas of the stem and petals. This, I knew, was Flowey.

I blinked at him, taking in his terrible form. "Huh." I commented. "You look like you need some fertilizer."

"..." Flowey was silent for a moment. A bit later, he turned part of his face upwards to face me. "What are you doing? Do you really think I've learned anything from this?" He turned his face back down. "No."

I blinked at him, sorting through my emotions. This was the flower that tried to kill me, tried to kill my friends, thought about destroying the whole world. What had he ever done for me? _He hasn't learned anything. Just end his life for him._

"Nuh-uh." I finally decided.

Flowey looked up slightly. "Sparing me won't change anything. Killing me is the only way to end this."

There, he said it himself. _Ending him is the best solution here._ But what was there to end? Killing him wouldn't bring my friends back. Killing him wouldn't change anything either.

I shook my head.

Flowey raised his head, and evil grin creeping up on his face. He was quite a sight. His entire face was scratched up, and everything about him radiated a weak, sorry mood. " _If you let me live… I'll come back._ "

He'll come back? He might try to kill all the monsters. _He might kill everyone._ But maybe that was a matter to deal with for a later time. I shook my head.

"I'll _kill_ you."

 _Good luck with that, overgrown weed._ I shook my head.

Flowey's eyes were wide with thirst. " _I'll kill everyone._ "

I blinked at him, wondering if I should take his threat seriously. Maybe I should. What if he really comes back? Then what? Well... maybe he was just bluffing. After all, a weak little flower couldn't do anything serious, especially when he had no powers. I paused hesitantly before shaking my head.

His grin was evil and crafty, and a devious glint was shining in his eyes. " _I'll kill everyone you love._ "

Everyone I love? Except he already has. He already killed all my friends. He already killed all of them. I could suddenly see it, all my friends' deaths flashing before my eyes. They were terrible, horrible. Flowey didn't deserve to live. _He could get a taste of his own medicine._ I could end him right now, right here. Then he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. Then, everyone would be safe from him. _Just do it._

But then, a different thought flashed through my mind. _Always be kind. Sometimes, kindness is all you can give. Sometimes, kindness is enough._ I gulped, letting the words soak into my brain. A moment later, I shook my head.

Flowey stared at me, and I shook my head again. Seeming to get it, he let a look of confusion cross his gaze. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head and raised my hand to show that I wasn't going to do anything to him.

"...why?" Flowey growled angrily at me, and I could only smile apologetically back at him. "...why are you being… so nice to me?" His face was sad and scrunched up, and I could see that he really didn't understand.

So I decided to explain it to him. "Because sometimes…" I hesitated. "Sometimes, kindness is all you can give. Sometimes, kindness is enough."

Flowey stared desperately at me before looking back to the ground. "I can't understand. I…" He stared frustratedly at the dirt. "I can't understand! I just…" He gulped. "...can't understand…"

He gave me one last look.

Then he ran away.

And taking a deep breath, I slowly made my way over to the Ruins Door ahead, leading to the surface.

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like this... it was a nice day for a game of catch.

The camera rung. I ignored it.

It rung again. I didn't move.

It rung again. "Heya." Sans' familiar voice rang from the device, and I could barely hold back a sniffle. "Is anyone there…?" Silence for a moment. "Well, i'll just leave a message…."

I sighed before finally managing to open the message.

"So… it's been a while, huh?" His tone was warm and soothing, and I hugged myself to keep from crying. I had to remind myself that this was just a recording, and nothing more. I couldn't respond to him, even if I wanted to. "The queen returned, and will soon be ruling over the underground. She says she'll be instating a new policy… that all the humans who fall will not be treated as enemies, but as friends." A brief moment of pausing. "It's probably for the best, anyway. And the human souls the king gathered seem to have disappeared. So, uh, that plan ain't happening any time soon."

I cracked a small grin at that, but it immediately disappeared. No matter how much of a help my friends were, they were never coming back. They were gone, for good.

"And even though people are heartbroken over the king… and things are looking grim for our freedom… the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope. So, uh, hey…" For a moment, Sans sounded embarrassed. "If we're not giving up hope down here… don't give up wherever you are, ok?" My chest held a slight fluttery feeling at his words, and Sans sighed. "Who knows how long it will take… but we _will_ get out of here."

"SANS!" Papyrus' voice rung out the camera, startling me so much that I almost dropped it. "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?" It took me a moment to readjust myself, and I propped my elbows on my thighs.

"Oh, nobody."

"WHAT!? NOBODY!? CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO?" I couldn't help laughing lightly at his way of interpreting things.

"Here, knock yourself out." And Sans was gone from the phone.

"WAIT A SECOND… I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER! HEY! HUMAN!" Then Papyrus launched into an entire greeting about how he and everyone else was doing. He also expressed his disappointment of the disbanding of the Royal Guard, and how he didn't know what to do with his life anymore. I almost felt like agreeing with him.

"SO DON'T FEEL BAD! PAPYRUS IS FINE!" I couldn't help admiring him for his ability to see everything positively. "UNDYNE IS THE ONE THAT'S GOT IT BAD!" He then made a list about all the things she had lost before coming to the conclusion that he would take care of her. He then went on about all the things she would go through, and where she worked, and how Sans had provided her with a job at his Hot-dog stand. Inevitably, I couldn't help making a small smile.

"OH YEAH." Papyrus suddenly yelped. "SHE STILL BLAMES YOU… FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASGORE…" I nodded solemnly at that, but I didn't mind. I still blamed her for the death of Cowboy, after all. Papyrus then went on about her plans to get revenge on me, and how it would be absolutely ludicrous and include beating me up.

Papyrus then expressed his feelings on leaving the Underground with Undyne to see me, and I felt myself getting teary-eyed. But he told me to keep in touch and stay hopeful, because one day… because one day, we would see each other again.

Then Papyrus was off, and I expected the message to be over, but to my surprise, there was more.

"Hey." It was Sans again? "Papyrus sure is great, isn't he? But um…" A moment of pause. "...I guess i never really did get the chance to tell you what I had planned to say. And no, this won't work either." He sighed loudly over the camera. "I had hoped to tell it to you to your face but uh… I guess that won't work anymore?" His tone was doubtful, and unsure. "Welp. so much for that plan. But hey, that's okay. I can always tell you… the next time around." I could just imagine him winking, one eye socket closed as the other stared teasingly at me, and my heart clenched. "See ya 'round, kiddo."

And then he was off, and the message clicked closed.

Taking a shaky breath, I pushed the camera away. It took all my willpower not to snatch the camera back up, and to call Sans back and to tell him exactly how I felt and about everything that had happened to me.

An all-too-familiar flower suddenly popped up next to me, and I eyed him warily. He looked a lot better than I had last saw him, so that was saying something. Hopefully, he wasn't going to start any more conundrums.

"Why…?" Flowey asked me, face open and confused. "Why did you let me go? Don't you realize that being nice… just makes you get hurt?"

I couldn't answer.

Flowey's gaze travelled to the camera lying next to me. "Look at yourself. You made all these great friends… But now, you'll probably never see them again. And not to mention how much they've been set back by you." I buried myself deeper within my own embrace. "Hurts, doesn't it? If you had just gone through without caring about anyone… you wouldn't have to feel bad now."

"No." I shook my head, trembling. "No, you're wrong. If I hadn't cared about anyone, then… then…"

Flowey gave me an unsatisfied look. "So I don't get it. If you really did everything the right way… Why did things still end up like this? Why…?"

I wanted to yell at him. To point at him and tell him that things ended up the way they did because he killed all my friends and that if it weren't for him, all of us would be living happily together in the Underground. We could be talking and laughing together. We could eat food and tell each other stories and have fun together. If only it weren't for _him._

But I held myself back.

"Is life really that unfair?" Flowey's question voiced my thoughts, and he turned his gaze upwards as he put on a thoughtful expression. "...hey. Since you've defeated me. I've been thinking. Is… killing things really necessary? I…" He looked down at the ground shamefully. "I honestly don't know anymore. And… I have a request for you."

Interested, I looked up. "What request?"

Flowey blinked at me for a moment before scowling at himself. "Ugh, what am I doing? This is so dumb… why am I even bothering?" He slowly turned away.

"No!" I rolled over, stomach-to-ground as I faced Flowey at eye level. "Tell me your request!"

Flowey took a deep breath. "Fine. Prove to me you're strong enough. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."

They sounded way too much like Toriel's words, and I wondered if Flowey got them from her. "Well, how?"

"Get here from the beginning." Flowey instructed me. "While making sure not a single one of your so-called-friends get killed. Then maybe… you'll have your so-called 'happy ending.' "

I stared at him doubtfully. "You didn't promise not to kill the King." I pointed out.

"Why should I? That's not a promise I need to make." He shrugged his leaves. "So what will it be? Will you prove yourself? Or…" His face made an evil grin, and I immediately scrambled away to put some distance between us. "Will I get to watch you suffer…? Either way, I'm interested!"

"Flowey," I clenched my fists. "This is _not a game_!"

"Hee hee hee…" He giggled. "You of all people should know that's not true." And then he was gone. Back in the dirt where he belonged.

I sighed before going back into my curled up position. Everyone was gone. All my friends, human _or_ monster. I was alone.

Maybe Flowey was right. Maybe if I just Reset, then things could turn out better.

After all, maybe that's why I'm the one with Determination in the first place.

A large button suddenly appeared before me, glowing a bright golden yellow. Upon it were the words RESET. I blinked at the sign, wondering why and how it had appeared. Did just thinking about it make it show up? Or did it only give me this option after I had completed the game?

I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to keep them still. I wasn't ready to relive all that again. I wasn't prepared to go back and watch all my friends get murdered again. So therefore, I wasn't going to do anything.

The yellow button was still there, glowing in front of me and refusing to leave. Why was it still there? Why didn't it just go away?

 _Frisk, you need to stay determined!_ I blinked, hearing the voice in my head again. It wasn't like I was fighting Flowey or anything… so why was it there?

 _Just be honest with yourself, Frisk._

 _You gotta face this problem head-on!_

 _Keep going, and don't ever give up!_

 _Remember, always be kind._

 _And it's okay, you can take all the time you need to think this through._

' _Cause in the end, you'll always choose to do the right thing!_

I blinked as the thoughts faded away in my mind. Those were the thoughts of my friends. During the fight, they were with me. Even now, they were still with me. Even after the Reset, they were going to be with me.

So now, I was going to have to be there for them.

Facing the button and raising my hand to meet it, I felt a new feeling fill me. The most irresistable, most familiar feeling that I had ever dealt with in my whole life down here in the underground. The _only_ feeling. I shut my eyes as I let the feeling wash over me. The feeling of _Determination._

And then, the world was black.

* * *

 **Aaaaand that is the end of this story.**

 **. . .**

 **BUUUUUUUUT I will be continuing it in a sequel! :D**

 **And to make up for the lack of length for this chapter, here is a sneak peek. :)**

* * *

I cracked my eyes open, and found myself free-falling in the air. I didn't know where I was, what I was doing. Why was I in the air, with nothing to hold onto, and with nothing under for me to land safely on, and just me falling alone in a wide expanse of nothing?!

It was then that I realized. I was going to fall to my death.

Screaming and waving my arms around, I felt the backpack slip off my shoulders.

* * *

 _Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow…_

I groaned as I felt my bones creak and my bruised skin stretch. My head throbbed, and I held it in my hands, trying to keep it from exploding. Where was I? What happened to me? Why was I lying in a… patch of yellow flowers? How had I gotten here? Looking up, I saw a huge hole looming above me. And up there, I saw the sky. How had I gotten down here? Had I _fallen_?!

Everything hurt; my back, my arms and legs, and especially my head. I carefully threaded my fingers through my hair before feeling a bump in a little spot above the back of my head. Ouch. I must've fallen pretty hard to get a nasty thing like that. I tried to get in a better position to feel just how big it was, but the plan failed when my back started to practically scream in agony. After that, I just stopped moving.

I was still trying to figure out where I was and what I was doing. How had I ended up here? I didn't remember getting here… had I jumped? Had I tried to suicide? From what? I thought harder, trying to remember my family… if I even had one. Did I have a family? Did I have siblings? Where was I born? I continued to rack my head for answers, but found none.

But then I thought of a question that I was _sure_ I knew the answer to. My name. But after a few moments of blinking, I realized I couldn't remember that either. Panic started to seize me as I realized the fact that I remembered _nothing._ Had something happened to me? Did I hit my head too hard? Did I get a _concussion?_

 _Why hello._ A ghostly figure suddenly appeared before me, and then I _knew_ I was crazy. It was a girl in a green sweatshirt, and a single yellow stripe was traced upon it. She had short brown hair, with with cute bangs covering part of her eyes. Her smile was gentle, but mischievous. _I see you have fallen, partner._

* * *

 **I'll post a new chapter to update you guys when the continuation of this story comes out, so don't worry about looking for it everyday. :P**

 **Also, could you guys suggest some names for the story? I had debated on calling it The 7 Souls No.2 (or something) but that seems a bit too repetitive. -_-**

 **Thank you all so much! For everything. :) ~Pizza**


	34. Sequel Out!

**Sorry for the delay, peps! But the sequel is now _finally_ out! Just go to my profile and look for 7 Souls: Determination. ('cause why not?)**

 **But now that _this_ story is over, I just want to thank all of you for being there with me the whole time! Even when I disappeared for amounts of time, you would always welcome me back! You guys _always_ had something to say (quite literally), and without you all, I probably would've never finished it up to this far. So once again, thank _you_ for everything.**

 **I hope you continue to be filled with _determination_! :3**


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